Gun Owners’ Action LeaguePO Box 567Northboro, MA. 01532Change Service Requested

Hunting Season is Almost Here, Are You Ready?Hunting Season Reminders

With the impending fall election season fast approaching it also re-minds us that most of the major hunting seasons are coming up fast. Keeping that in mind I thought it might be handy to write a column with a few things to remember for the upcoming days in the field.

The most important thing is safety. Well before your particular season get underway take some time to in-ventory, clean and test all of your gear.

Firearms and even bows:

•Give them a good servicing/cleaning;

•Check all mounted hardware (scopes, sights, etc.) to make sure the are tight and mounted prop-erly;

•Get some good range time not just to sight them in, but to get

comfortable with the firearm/bow again. Normally you might be using muscles and eye coor-dination you may not have used in while.

•While at the range take the opportunity to shoot from vari-ous positions. Standing, seated, prone and even some clubs have towers that simulate tree stands. One of the most difficult shots can be coming out of reverse prone position to fire. This posi-tion is most commonly used in waterfowl hunting in pop-up style layout blinds and boats.

•Make sure you are practicing and sighting in with the ammu-nition/arrows that you will be hunting with. Different bullet weights and type of cartridges (magnum versus target) will act very differently both in sight alignment and recoil in different

firing positions. •The same goes for archery equip-

ment. Make sure you are practic-ing with the same arrow weight and size you will be using while hunting. Even the tip should at least simulate the broadheads.

General gear:

•If you use a tree stand, be sure to pull it out and check all of the safety items. These will include your harness, the cables and different parts of the stand. This is tremendously impor-tant for those using a climbing stand. (Caution: if you utilize a permanent or semi-perma-nent tree stand for the season, make sure you give it a once over before climbing into it for the day. There have been numer-ous reports around the country about animal rights extremists sabotaging tree stands at night in hopes to have the hunter fall from a broken stand.)

•If you use a boat make sure you pull it out well before the season and check it over closely. Run the motor up and maybe even give a good service. Take the time to bring it to the water for a test run or two while the water is still relatively warm. Check your boats safety gear such as fire extinguishers, life vests, etc. and make sure everything is still

This season, prepare to succeed and you will!

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Amid Statewide Lawlessness - GOAL Launches AG - LTC Inquiry.9/5/12 Gun Owners’ Action League

GOAL has formally requested that the Massachusetts Attorney Gener-al’s office conduct an investigation into the firearm licensing delays throughout the Commonwealth. For several months the GOAL office has been deluged with complaints from members all over the state about lengthy delays in applying for or renewing their firearm license. GOAL has tried to find out what the actual problems are in order to resolve the issue. The problem is that in every instance there seems to be a different reason given. The only conclusion we can come to is that for whatever reason the system is broken and nobody knows why or how to fix it. Rather than GOAL spending more time chasing down the problems of an inherently bad system, it is time for the state to start fixing the problems it started in the first place.

Below is a copy of the letter that has been sent to the AG’s office.

September 4, 2012

Attorney General Martha Coakley

One Ashburton Place, 20th Floor

Boston, MA 02108

RE: Massachusetts Firearm Licens-ing System

Dear Attorney General Coakley,

I am writing to you today to request that your office conduct an investi-gation into the lengthy delays with-in the Massachusetts firearm licens-ing system. Over the past several months Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) has been repeatedly con-tacted by lawful gun owners across the state that have become more than frustrated with the system. Other than the complaints of be-ing unfairly denied or having their license restricted for no reason, the overwhelming complaint now has been the length of time it takes to process a license application.

According to Massachusetts General laws, specifically Section 129B and 131 of Chapter 140, there are very specific timelines that the licensing process is to be held to. Primarily

any license or renewal of the same shall not take longer than forty days to process. The following are just a few examples of time complaints:

•Tewksbury resident had to wait over 100 days;

•Weymouth nearly 17 weeks;•Belchertown nearly 5 months;•Mendon, applied for an LTC in

February and did not receive it until July;

•Beverly, got fingerprinted and paid the fee in late June and still no response;

•Fall River, took almost three months, 3 letters of reference and mandatory club membership;

•Boston, after my initial manda-tory interview in May was made to wait until August for a range test;

•Fitchburg, it has been 11 weeks and the local department does not respond to inquiries about license status;

•Tyngsboro, 73 days from applica-tion to license;

•North Andover, ten weeks

•Worcester, 6 months•Springfield, 3 months•Pittsfield, 119 days;•Wilbraham, 10 weeks;•Lowell, 4 months;•Waltham, 3 months;

And the list goes on.

Please note that citizens have asked us not release their names for fear of reprisal from licensing officials. Since Licenses to Carry can be re-voked or restricted for little or no reason, citizens rightly feel that if they complain about the lack of ser-vice the local authority will revoke their license.

One of the major problems within

GOAL Newse PrintEdition

The Official Monthly Publication of Gun Owners’ Action League - Protecting Your Freedom Since 1975August 2012 Dedicated to Education, Safety, Training, and Support of Massachusetts Firearms Owners

GOAL News Print Edition September 2012 September 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 2 3

In This Issue:From the Executive Director - Jim Wallace Page 3From The Editor - Mike Sweeney Page 4Patriot Games by Steve Moysey Page 5NRA - National News Page 6NSSF - Industry News Page 7GOAL Legislation Page 8In Plain Sight by Maureen Trickett Page 9GOAL Candidate Ratings Page 10-11GOAL Events Page 11GOAL Training Page 12Club News - Copicut Rifle Association Page17The Reloading Bench by Jim Finnerty Page 18

Ju

•GOAL News

GOAL News Print Edition

GOAL News - Print Edition is the Official Journal of Gun Owners’ Action League. GOAL is the official state association of the National Rifle Asso-ciation.

GOAL is dedicated to education, safety, training and support of Massachusetts Firearms Owners.

Since 1975, GOAL has represented the interests of the law abiding citizens of Massacusetts.

Gun Owners’ Action League OfficialsJames Wallace, Executive Director

GOAL Board of DirectorsPresident: Jay Beard

1st Vice President: Lynne RobertsTreasurer: Lynne Roberts

Secretary: Christopher Siano

Gun Owners’ Action League - GOAL News “Print Edition” is published monthly and provided as a membership benefit to all classes of member-ship who wish to receive it.

Submissions of original works are welcomed. However the editor reserves the right to reject or appropriately edit any submitted material.

Reprint permission is granted provided that appropriate credit is given in the form of the statement: “Reprinted from GOAL News Print Edition”.

Advertisers should contact Mike Sweeney GOAL Communications Man-ager at 508-393-5333 or mike@goal.org for rates and information.

GOAL News - Print EditionChief Executive Officer: James Wallace

Editor: Michael SweeneyContributing Editors:

Angela Fisher, Jon Green, Steve Moysey, Jay Beard

Gun Owners’ Action LeaguePO Box 567/361 W. Main St.

Northboro, MA. 01532Phone: 508-393-5333 Fax: 508-393-5222

http://www.goal.orgGeneral e-mail staff@goal.org

News/Communications/Web e-mail: mike@goal.orgTraining/Education e-mail: jongreen@goal.org

Membership/Club e-mail: tara@goal.orgGun Owners’ Action League is the official Massachusetts state association

of the National Rifle Association.

From the Executive DirectorBy Jim Wallace - GOAL Executive Director

Join GOAL Protecting Your Freedom Begins Here!Gun Owners’ Action League is the official state firearms association in Massachusetts. We are an association of law-abiding citizens who believe in the basic right of firearms ownership for competition, recreation and self-protection.

GOAL works hard to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights against those in Massachusetts who wish to infringe upon the freedoms guaran-teed by our forefathers. The programs sponsored and developed by Gun Owners’ Action League are supported by competitors, sportsmen, recre-ational shooters and law enforcement throughout the state.

We were formed in 1974 to protect the right to keep and bear arms for law-ful purposes in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are recognized as the state’s premier gun rights association.

Why You Should Join GOAL

Every intrusion on our gun rights is an intrusion on all rights. The Con-stitutional rights and freedoms that you enjoy - and may take for granted - are becoming more fragile each day. Secure your rights for yourself, your family and future generations. Join GOAL and become part of the solution today.

Gun Owners’ Action League is a grassroots organization whose members actively participate in the many facets of protecting our Second Amend-ment rights and passing on the shooting sports traditions.

No one has any reason to fear the possession of firearms by law-abiding citizens. GOAL publishes materials to bring the truth about gun owner-ship to the public, the legislature and our members.

We also provide courses to new shooters, as well as certification training for those wishing to become firearms instructors. We also provide referrals to instructors around the state.

Join online, at http://goal.org/joingoal.html or see our form on pg. 10

Term up in 2014 Term up in 2013

Ross Schacher David LaRosa

Steve Moysey John Beaumont

Wendy Parsons Peter McBride

Joe Currie John Sklenak

Michael Anthony Gary Wilk

Jim Finnerty Mark Jester

What Didn’t Happen

First, I would like to thank all GOAL members for the support - joining us in taking on this enormous fight we have on our hands. We have been trying to reform the Com-monwealth’s gun laws for over a de-cade now and our members refuse to give up! While we have had some success over the years, these recent years have been very tough. Two main problems exist for us recently in Massachusetts.

The first is most certainly the apa-thetic and anti-civil rights De-val Patrick administration. Under the Governor’s leadership, or lack thereof, the licensing bureaucracy has gone from bad to worse. License renewals that used to only take a few weeks can take as much as six months. One would logically think that if government believes it is so important to license and track law-ful citizens that they would have an efficient system in place to do so.

Not that I or GOAL supports li-censing, but if we are forced to have one to exercise our civil rights and forced to pay exorbitant fees than we should expect some decent ser-vice. Can you imagine the mess we would have in our local clubs if the Governor took over control of pub-lic shooting events and safety pro-grams?

The second problem is the deranged murderers across the country that have made the news by slaughtering

innocent people. These events vir-tually slammed the brakes on our attempts to reform Massachusetts gun laws.

As they have always done with in-cidents, our adversaries and most of the media took advantage of the tragedies to force their anti-civil rights agenda down the throats of Americans. Of course at the same time they virtually ignore that grow-ing murder rates in the major cities around country, especially Chicago. The same cities, by the way, where gun control reigns supreme.

Still, while things have been tough for getting reforms passed we do need to take notice of the horrible laws that we stopped from being passed. GOAL members should take pride knowing that even though we live in one of the most hostile en-vironments to lawful citizens in the country we managed to stop cold all legislative attempts to further re-strict our civil rights.

Just to name a few:

•One gun a month (lawful citi-zens imprisonment act)

•Adding discretionary powers to local authorities for FID cards

•Defining any mechanical action gun as an “Assault Weapon”

•Limiting licensed retailers to selling only 15 guns a year

•Microstamping for semi-autos•GPS devices for handguns•Expanding the discharge law to

1000’ from a dwelling

•Mandatory $250,000 insurance on every handgun

•Adding a member of Stop Hand-gun Violence to the Gun Control Advisory Board

•Increasing mandatory training to 20 hours

•Sanctioning of ranges by the Dept. of Public Safety

•Making a judgment of Contin-ued Without a Finding an auto-matic disqualifier

•Making it a felony to have a gun in your home with an expired license

•Banning the sale of certain semi-autos to anyone except law enforcement

If GOAL and its members were not around it is very likely that some these would have become law. While it is very important to continue our fight for reforms, it is equally important to not lose any further ground. You, the GOAL members should be very proud of your actions in this legislative ses-sion. You have shown the rest of the nation that lawful gun owners in the Commonwealth have not withered nor shied away from the fight to re-tain our civil rights. GOAL has a very solid reputation as being a professional, membership active and effective orga-nizations in the state. Over the last few years that reputation has begun not get national attention. All of this would not be possible if it were not for the overwhelming support and dedication of our members.

Now, on to the next legislative session. Over the next few months the GOAL staff will be drafting and preparing to

file legislation for the 2013-14 legisla-tive session. If the rules are not changed, all legislation will have to filed on or about the first week of January 2013. Under the old rules, bills had to be filed by mid December, but rightfully so the freshman legislators complained that they were not even in the building of-ficially before the deadline to file had come and gone.

One of the questions we will have to re-solve is whether or not to file our com-prehensive bill to completely overhaul the entire set of gun laws here in the Commonwealth, our members know this as the MassGunLawReform bill. For the most part the comments we have gotten from the legislature and other public officials is that the bill is represents far too daunting of a task and would take up a huge amount of the legislative session just to under-stand all of the implications and the debate would go on forever. Too, bad we didn’t hear those complaints when the legislature so eagerly passed this mess into law. In any case, just filing the legislation seems to have had an enormous educational affect because just the realization and calling it such a daunting task affirms that they are

Continued on page 8

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From the Editor Patriot GamesBy Dr. Steve Moysey

Edward George &Associates

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By Mike Sweeney

Stuff I know

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I’m rapidly approaching 50, and hav-ing been around firearms for the bet-ter part of 4 decades I’ve picked up a thing or two. I’m not claiming to be an expert on anything, far from it, but I know what I know and sometimes the little things make a difference, so I thought I’d share, hoping that some-body might take something useful away from reading this.

Long range shooting; to me this means 300+ yards with a centerfire rifle, or 150+ yards with a rimfire (.22LR) rifle. One thing I notice all the time, when people are shooting off of a bench or from the prone position using a rest, bag, or bipod many tend to set up too high! The higher position in the front requires a higher rear bag, sock, or oth-er form of support and this can lead to more movement. If there is one thing required to make precise shots at a dis-tance, it’s a stable platform, the closer the rifle is to the ground or bench, the more stable it will be. Give it a try next time out, you might be surprised! One other thing, and I see this all the time, don’t rest the rifle on the barrel while shooting, make sure that the bag or what have you is under the stock!

Rifles, ammo, and accuracy – like any-thing, you get what you pay for. One thing that’s always amazed me is how results vary from brand to brand, and even with different types of the same brand of ammunition. When a round is fired the barrel flexes ever so slightly, just like the wing of a jet plane. (Ever look out the window when flying through turbulence? Scary!) Anyways, what’s happening with the barrel is es-sentially the same thing, the force of the charge travelling through the bore stresses the barrel, causing it to flex. Factory ammos vary greatly from type to type and brand to brand. Because of these variances rounds will flex the barrel just a bit differently with every shot, this results in the bullet leaving the muzzle at a different place in the flex pattern (imagine that airplane wing again) because the bullet is leav-ing from a different place every time, it’s landing in a different place every time, it’s as simple as that! If you’re having accuracy issues with your rifle, and can’t afford, or don’t know how to load your own, try a different brand or

type. You might be amazed at the dif-ference. Shameless plug, if you want to learn how to reload your own ammo, GOAL offers a couple of fantastic class-es taught by our own Jim Finnerty (see his column in this paper) Jim teaches a basic “how to” class that will get you started loading pistol caliber ammuni-tion, and an advanced class that will teach you how to load rifle ammuni-tion, this more than anything will make a significant difference in the accuracy of your rifle.

Copper solvent is your friend. A friend of mine who shall go un-named was saying recently that he needed to re-place the barrel of one of his AR’s be-cause it was “shot out” and no longer grouping well. Keep in mind, this guy used to make his living shooting a rifle accurately and has plaques on the wall and patches on his sleeve that very few have. He forgot one thing though, cop-per build up effects accuracy - big time! I asked him, “hey, did you try running some copper solvent through it?” He had not, did, and it brought the barrel back to life. I had the same experience recently with a WW2 issue Springfield Armory M1 Garand, it’s a beauty, a made in 1943 receiver that was some-how re-barreled in June of 1944 (makes you wonder). Anyways, it was “min-ute of target” (big) at 50 yards off the bench, so I ran some copper solvent through it and viola, huge difference! Using standard M2 ball, it went from putting rounds all over an 8.5x11 tar-get at 50 yards to almost putting 4 shots through the same hole, awesome! For the record I really like Pro Shot Cop-per Solvent, (shameless plug #2) I get mine at Blue Northern Trading in Ayer, (shameless plug #3) it’s close to my club and the guys that run the shop are great!

Follow through! I was watching the NBC show “Stars Earn Stripes” last night and one of the Hollywood types kept pulling his head off of the scope to see the impact of the round. Watch-ing it, I said out loud, “he’s never go-ing to hit anything if he keeps pulling his head off like that.” Sure enough, a few shots later his “Operator” (personal coach and military veteran/partner on the show) suggested that he stay on the scope through the shot, “don’t worry

about seeing it hit, I’ll let you know”. Sure enough, a couple shots later he hit the target, keeping his head down, and following through on the shot. I’m sure that many of you are familiar with the term “follow through” from other sports; golfers especially are very famil-iar with it. In rifle shooting speak the follow through is a bit different, more mental than physical, basically it means keeping your body still through the shot, until the shot hits the target. Re-member, the slightest movement while breaking the shot will affect accuracy greatly.

Trigger pull. We’ve all heard the slow-squeeze- let it surprise you bit, one thing that isn’t always mentioned though is “pull and hold”. It’s literally that, make sure you make that nice gentle pull, and then hold it after the rifle discharges! One thing I see all the time is people “slapping the trigger” with their finger, once again, movement equals inaccu-racy, and staying steady and smooth will give you better results, give it a try. I like to hold the trigger back until after the round impacts - then let it reset and

start my pre-shot process again.

Hearing protection. Use it, always! I can’t remember using ear protection when I was a kid, and now I’m darn near deaf in my left ear and the right isn’t so great either (insert political joke here). If your range has a roof as many do, or if you’re next to somebody shooting a rifle with a muzzle brake, save your ears and wear the muffs!

So that’s it for now, figured I’d take a break from ranting about something and maybe share some knowledge, hope there’s something here that helps.

Remember, stay safe, keep it simple and get out and pull that trigger!

There are a couple of things on my mind as I type this month’s column – both of them relevant to our Sec-ond Amendment rights- so forgive me if I bounce around a little.

One thing that has me hot under the collar is the recent near-massacre at the Family Research Council (FRC) in Washington, DC, as it put into sharp relief a curious fact: The peo-ple most aggressively denouncing others for their “hatemongering” appear to be engaging in a lot of it themselves – with dangerous, and potentially lethal, repercussions. A volunteer at a D.C. community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, named Floyd Lee Corkins II, entered the head-quarters of the FRC on the morning of August 15th. In his backpack was a 9mm Sig Sauer pistol, at least 50 rounds of ammunition and fifteen (yes, fifteen) Chick-Fil-A sandwich-es.

Leonardo R. Johnson, 46, the FRC building manager, was on duty at the reception desk when Corkins entered the lobby. There were no armed guards present in the lobby – the FRC had made a request for armed guards, but this is DC and we all know how they feel about the second amendment down there.

An FBI affidavit quotes 28-year-old Corkins of Herndon telling the guard, “I don’t like your politics” as he pulled the Sig Sauer pistol from his backpack, carried with him on Metrorail from East Falls Church. He pointed the gun at the head of Johnson, who acted unhesi-tatingly to tackle the assailant. He was shot through the left wrist, but despite his wound was able to wrest the firearm away from Corkins and then hold the assailant at gunpoint while help arrived to subdue and re-strain the attacker.

It was clear that Corkins was bent on killing as many of the Center’s em-ployees as possible, perhaps because of the social conservative group’s listing earlier this year by the South-ern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as among the “worst hate groups and bigots” in America. It turns out that,

as with the Family Research Coun-cil, what seems to qualify one for smearing by the Southern Poverty Law Center is disagreement with its political agenda. If you lawfully object to, say, the erosion of tradi-tional marriage or open borders, you stand to be condemned by the SPLC as a hater.

The fact that the family manage-ment of Chick-Fil-A had donated a whopping $1000 to the FRC some time ago apparently linked that food chain to a “hate” organization, jus-tifying Corkins bringing the sand-wiches with him. The only thing standing between Corkins and a mass slaughter of the FRC staff was Leonardo Johnson, whose bravery and quick thinking undoubtedly saved many lives.

Just what Corkins intended to do with the chicken sandwiches is not clear, but it was probably some ma-cabre political statement on the per-ceived position of the FRC and the chicken chain.

In an interview with WJLA-TV

(Channel 7), Leonardo Johnson said from his hospital room that Corkins shot him without warning and that he tackled Corkins without realiz-ing that he had been shot. “I didn’t feel any pain,” he told the station. “I felt my arm snap back so I knew I was hit, but I didn’t feel any pain. Although I didn’t want to get shot, nobody wants to get shot, I feel that God put me in a position to be there at that time.”

Now, Johnson may well have had a legitimate reason to shoot Corkins once he wrested the firearm away from the assailant, given he did not know what the attacker would do next and given the fact he had al-ready shot him, but he didn’t. He took the position of holding the as-sailant, despite his wound, until he couple be restrained and taken away by the police.

This event received almost no Main Stream Media coverage, which is why I was more than a little hot under the collar about the event. If the events had occurred at a lib-eral supporting organization, then we would have had endless media coverage. But the event went by as a footnote to the daily news. I guess we can work out why that was the case, but it is disconcerting none-theless.

Speaking of disconcerting, I bought a new AR platform last week. A Lewis Machine and Tool LMT.308 MWS. This is a truly remarkable piece of American craftsmanship in one of my favorite rifle calibers, the venerable 7.62 NATO round. I like this over the 5.56 NATO for several reasons, most of which have noth-

ing to do with anything detrimental against the 5.56. I just like the extra get up and go of the bigger round, the push on my shoulder as I fire the rifle and the knowledge that what it hits, it will stop in its tracks.

What I found disconcerting had nothing to do worth the fine rifle, the exquisite workmanship or the affability of the gun store own-er that put this sought after item aside for me. No, what truly irked my logical brain was the magazine that had been inadvertently put in the MA complaint rifle’s packaging. You see, it was a brand new polymer 20 round magazine and the bag it was in clearly announced it to be the case. Being a good citizen, I silently showed the magazine in its bag to the store owner. His face dropped to match my expression. We both knew I could not take that out of the store, as it was a new, post-ban, high capacity magazine and would make us both law breakers if I did.

He called the manufacturer – they were very embarrassed that the hi-cap had slipped past quality control and ended up in the box with my new rifle. They promised to send me a ten round version – the one that would make things all well and legal in in MA - in the mail. Now, always being one to plan for the worse, I had found and ordered on-line some MA compliant 10 round magazines for the rifle before I picked it up, otherwise I would have had a very frustrating wait for the magazine from LMT, and one of the most expensive sing shot rifles on the market.

As I sat at my cleaning bench, breaking down the new rifle for the first time, I got to thinking about the magazine issue. Logically, and technically speaking, a magazine is an ammunition storage device that is designed to present fresh rounds to the ammunition cycling mecha-nism of a firearm.

It’s as simple as that.

It has no capacity for intelligent thought.

It has no ethical or moral capability.

It has no means of discerning the user’s intent, motivations or politi-cal persuasions.

It is neither good nor bad.

It is just a box that feed ammunition to the action of a firearm.

So why does our state deem it illegal for me to possess such a device, that holds more than 10 rounds, just because it was not “lawfully pos-sessed” on or before September 13, 1994? What makes the “box” that came with the LMT rifle, manufac-

Continued on page 8

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GOP Adopts Strongly Pro-Gun PlatformPosted on August 31, 2012

As each party does every four years as part of their national conven-tions, this week, the Republican Party adopted its platform detailing the general beliefs and policy posi-tions of the party.

Included in the 2012 Republican platform is a strong statement of support for the individual right to keep and bear arms, which goes be-yond a generic statement of support for the Second Amendment and in-cludes specific statements on key is-sues of concern to gun owners.

Here is the text on the Second Amendment included in the plat-form:

We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a right which antedated the Constitution and was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment.

We acknowledge, support, and defend the law-abiding citizen’s God-given right of self-defense.

We call for the protection of such fundamental individual rights rec-ognized in the Supreme Court’s deci-sions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago affirming that right, and we recognize the indi-vidual responsibility to safely use and store firearms. This also includes the right to obtain and store ammunition without registration.

We support the fundamental right to self-defense wherever a law-abiding citizen has a legal right to be, and we support federal legislation that would expand the exercise of that right by allowing those with state-issued carry permits to carry firearms in any state that issues such permits to its own

residents. Gun ownership is respon-sible citizenship, enabling Americans to defend their homes and communi-ties.

We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and op-pose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners.

We oppose legislation that is intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered Clinton gun ban.

We condemn the reckless actions as-sociated with the operation known as “Fast and Furious,” conducted by the Department of Justice, which resulted in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent and others on both sides of the border.

We applaud the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in holding the current Administration’s Attor-ney General in contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with their investigation into that debacle.

We oppose the improper collection of firearms sales information in the four southern border states, which was imposed without congressional authority.

The inclusion of specific issues, such as the right to self-defense, opposi-tion to the semi-auto ban, and sup-port for interstate Right-to-Carry reciprocity makes this the most pro-Second Amendment position ever included in a major party platform. The NRA commends the GOP for taking a strong and unambiguous stance in support of our funda-mental, individual right to keep and bear arms.

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Please call (866) 869-6389 or visit www.nrailasigns.org to order your

NRA yard signs TODAY!

Preparing Today for Success on Election DayThe engine that drives the NRA machine is you…and your tens of millions of fellow Second Amend-ment supporters. What should you be doing TODAY to ensure success on November 6? Here are some sug-gestions:

Register to Vote. Nothing is more important than ensuring our sup-porters are registered to vote. If voters who support the Second Amendment don’t register to vote prior to the deadline, they won’t have a voice on Election Day. If you are not currently registered to vote, REGISTER TODAY!

Recruit More Volunteers. The more volunteers you recruit early and keep in contact with, the more boots on the ground you will have for pre-cinct walks, phone banks, and other activities. You can never have too many volunteers!

Hunt Where The Ducks Are. Whether registering pro-gun voters or recruiting pro-Second Amend-ment volunteers, focus your efforts on places where “our people” can be found. Our goal is to engage our supporters. Gun shows, gun shops, gun & hunting clubs, shooting ranges—what we call gun owners’ “natural resources”—are the places in which you should concentrate your primary efforts.

Raise Awareness. Letters to the edi-tors of local papers on issues of concern to the gun-owning com-munity are a great way to inform and educate your fellow Second Amendment sympathizers on issues of mutual concern. Write a letter to the editor in support of an NRA is-sue. Encourage others to do so. And, keep an eye out for pro-gun letters that are published and work to con-tact the authors to commend them and recruit them into your network! For assistance in writing letters to the editor, utilize our “Guidelines For Communicating With The Me-dia” feature.

The one factor in any campaign that is critical is TIME. Every day

Democratic Platform ‘Common-sense Improvements’ Brings Back ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban, Gun Show Loophole Arguments

The 2012 Democratic National Convention released its party plat-form today and it quickly drew fire from several points of the political spectrum for its statement on the Second Amendment and firearms ownership. As we did with the cor-responding Republican platform section, we include it in its entirety:

“Firearms. We recognize that the in-dividual right to bear arms is an im-portant part of the American tradi-tion, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms.

We believe that the right to own fire-arms is subject to reasonable regula-tion.

We understand the terrible conse-quences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious.

We believe in an honest, open nation-al conversation about firearms.

We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strength-ening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements – like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole – so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.”

So, we again see the rhetorical pat-

tern of a quick acknowledgement that there is a Second Amendment, fol-lowed by the call for reasonable regu-lation, a few words about the terrible-ness of gun violence and the need for national debate, a pivot to focusing on effective enforcement of existing laws and then the grand finale of bringing back the “assault weapons ban” and closing the “gun show loophole” with the closing phrase that promises what the just aforementioned strictures would – once again – certainly not accomplish.”

For those enjoying the last week of August and who, as a result, may have missed the Republican Na-tional Convention’s approved party plank on the Second Amendment, the contrast with what you just read above will be clear and easy to see. We encourage you to read both platforms and draw your own con-clusions before you #gunvote on Election Day.

Same as it ever was, back in the USSR

August 31, 2012 By Larry Keane

Memories of the Cold War, when all that was bad about the Soviet Union was so plainly on view, are being brought back to mind — at least for some of us. For staging a pointedly anti-Putin demonstration, a Rus-sian court recently sentenced three members of an all-female punk rock band to two years in prison for “hooliganism,” which happens to be a favorite Soviet era catch-all charge used against countless dissidents.

Human Rights groups and the U.S. State Department pointed out the lengthy jail time is clear evidence of a government once again suppressing free speech by old means. However, it was in a New York Times Aug. 16 editorial commentary about what they decried as the original mak-er of the Kalashnikov rifle selling semi-automatic models for export, including to the United States, that the editors apparently forgot about another common practice of the

old Kremlin – determining who was sane and who was not. Then, it was clearly understood that many who opposed Communist Party poli-cies were simply adjudged “insane” by officials for political reasons and they were sent away. Having never met a gun control proposal that they didn’t like, the Times editors positively gushed over the current Russian government’s requirement that purchasers of long guns pres-ent a “medical certificate of san-ity” before being allowed to acquire one. Really? So, it is acceptable for the same insecure and corrupt gov-ernment that uses “hooliganism” charges as a way to stifle speech to decide on certifications of sanity as one more means to keep firearms ownership as limited as possible? Not that this failure of logic both-er most at the New York Times, of course. We all want to keep firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill, but to endorse a power-driven Rus-sian government approach to ra-tioning firearms ownership and to further say that were it not for “the intimidating shadow of the gun lobby” we could have such a policy here in the United States of America speaks to a truly selective and pro-foundly incorrect reading of history – both Russia’s and ours. Be thank-ful we have a First Amendment and a Second Amendment. Only one of these rights seems to matter at the New York Times.

NSSF Files Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Against Traditional Am-munition

August 30, 2012 By nssfnews

NSSF today filed a motion to dis-miss a second lawsuit brought by the radical anti-hunting Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and six other groups demanding the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) ban commonly used traditional ammunition containing lead com-ponents, representing 95 percent of the ammunition sold in the United States today. The suit is before the

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The EPA already has twice denied attempts by CBD to have the agency ban traditional ammunition, not-ing correctly that it does not have the authority to regulate traditional ammunition under the Toxic Sub-stances Control Act. The court has already dismissed an earlier case brought by CBD seeking the same relief.

The CBD’s transparent goal in pe-titioning the EPA and repeatedly filing lawsuits is to end hunting in America by banning the ammuni-tion millions of hunters and shoot-ers choose to use safely and respon-sibly.

“There is quite simply no sound science that shows the use of tra-ditional ammunition has harmed wildlife populations or that it pres-ents a health risk to humans who consume game taken with such am-munition,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for NSSF. “Banning tradi-tional ammunition would cost tens of thousands of jobs in American and destroy wildlife conservation that is funded in part by an 11 per-cent excise tax on the sale of ammu-nition. The protection and manage-ment of wildlife is properly handled by the professional biologists in the state fish and game agencies, as it has been for over a hundred years.

“This second frivolous lawsuit, which is essentially the same as the one dismissed last year, is equally without merit. This is a waste of taxpayers’ dollars and EPA resources in having to defend a baseless law-suit. The suit should be dismissed

Contd. on page 8

GOAL News Print Edition September 2012 September 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 8 9

GOAL News - Print Edition GOAL News - Print Edition

The new 20 gauge slug gun from Savage is engineered around our proven 110 rifle action for rifle-like performance. If your slug gun is built on any other platform, it’s for the birds.

THIS SLUG GUN IS NO SCATTER GUN.

savagearms.com

2011 - 2012 GOAL Legislation•HD.3995 An Act Repealing the Ban on Modern Sporting Arms•H.1568 GOAL’s Civil Rights and Public Safety Act•S.782 An Act Creating the Criminal Firearms and Trafficking Division•H.1287 An Act Regarding Breaking and Entering of a Firearms Retailer•H.1567 An Act Relative to the Right to Carry Firearms•H.1566 An Act Relative to Constitutional Rights•S.661 An Act Relative to the Common Defense•S.1191 An Act Relative to Small Caliber Ammunition•H.257 An Act Relative to the Hunting of Bear•H.3942 An Act Relative to the use of Crossbows for Hunting•S.832 An Act Relative to Deceptive Weapon Devices•H.2400 An Act Relative to Youth Hunting Programs•S.1189 An Act Relative to the Lawful Sale of Ammunition•S.1186 An Act Relative to an Unloaded Rifle of Shotgun•H.2402 An Act Relative to the Lawful Use of Shotguns•H.1150 An Act Relative to Waterfowl Hunting

aware of how incomprehensible these laws really are. At least we have gotten them that far and as in most cases fi-nally admitting there is a problem is the first step to recovery.

On behalf of the GOAL Board of Di-rectors and Staff … thank you very much for the privilege of representing you in our cause.

Wallace contd. from page 3

NRA News - Prepare Today contd. from page 6

Patriot Games contd. from page 5

tured in October 2011 that could not come home with me, any dif-ferent to the “box” that feed 7.62 NATO rounds to my venerable FN FAL ? Well, okay, it’s made of plas-tic, but would that make it any more of a threat to society than the sheet metal pre ban “boxes” that feed my FN?

Logically, it just does not pass the common sense test. Yet, despite the sunset on the Federal assault weap-ons ban in 2004, MA clings to this illogical legislation that makes a distinction on “boxes” based only on their date of inception. My “old” FN magazines perform the exact same physical function as the “new” magazine that had to be sent back to LMT as it was 20 instead of 10 rounds.

Maybe I am too logical, but the ir-rationality of the MA law just con-founds my expectations of what our politicians should do versus what they actually do.

It’s a bit like the MSM failing to make a hero out of Leonardo R. Johnson for stopping some nut with

15 Chic-Fil-A sandwiches in his backpack from mayhem and mas-sacre.

Oh, and by the way, FRC now has armed guards.

we are not working to increase our volunteer ranks is a day lost that we will never get back. As the calendar turns and we get closer to Election Day, things only get more hectic. That is why RIGHT NOW is a great time to ensure you maximize your effectiveness in those crazy days and weeks leading up to Election Day.

By Maureen Trickett

Some injuries or disabilities are in-visible to the naked eye, but are as real as a missing an arm or leg. I have been fortunate and proud to say I have met one such individual who has had to deal with not one, but two limitations most of his life. I call them limitations and not dis-abilities because he works hard ev-ery day of his life to overcome and surpass these limitations.

Mike Pietrowicz was first intro-duced to marksmanship at the age 6 when he and his dad took a ride out in the woods and his dad hand-ed him his grandfathers .22 rifle, it was love at first fire. They would shoot for hours at bottles and cans with both the .22 and a BB gun. He could not get enough of it and would ask his dad when they could go again and again. His father en-joyed his time with his son but was never really into the sport, but Mike wanted more. He wanted to do it right, like a professional.

School to Mike like so many others was not easy for him and he had to work harder than most. He always had this constant struggle. Due to a very observant teacher at age 13 Mike was diagnosed with a very mild form of Tourette’s syndrome. Tourette’s is not a life threatening disability, but can be life altering. It can range from mild tics of the fa-cial and shoulder muscle groups to having difficulty in focusing on dif-ferent tasks. The effect of Tourette’s varies significantly in each case. He spent his four years of high school

dealing with not only the normal is-sue of teen-age hood but this new aspect of his life. Doctors, medi-cation, depression, weight gain, fa-tigue not to mention school, friends and family. Each new day was a new struggle for him.

Shortly after he and his family moved further out to the country where he now had lots of farm land and woods to explore and hunt right in his own back yard. By age 15 he took a hunter safety course, got his FID and bought his first shotgun, with the help of his dad of course. He started hunting, fishing and camping by himself. He loved the outdoors, open space and all that went with it, peace and quiet. The outdoors was his haven. His love of the shooting sports kept his focus and was very important in his life.

Age 16 he got his drivers license and started to hang out at the gun store near home after school. He bided his time and went back day after day until he had earned his presence in

this adult only area. Realizing Mike was serious about his interest he was taken under the wing of several pa-trons. They taught him many facets of the shooting sports. The knowl-edge and experience he obtained could never be matched in a book.

The next two years Mike was ex-posed Trap, Pistol, Black Pow-der, Combat Pistol and Silhouette shooting at 100 yards. He became proficient in all of them and could not seem get enough of it. The more he learned the more wanted.

Finished now with High School, he was determined to take control of his own life on his terms. That meant no more medications or doc-tors, just him. He would learn to deal with everything his way, straight on.

1997 a friend talked him into shoot-ing a DCM match. A reduced 100 yard course in Hopkinton MA with a rack grade AR-15 with a 4.5lb trigger. He was so excited after the match, this was shooting discipline he had been looking for, high-pow-er. He was like a little kid again and could not wait to do and learn more.

By the beginning of the next season he had gone and bought himself a high-power jacket, scope, trigger modification kit, AR-15 etc and he was more than ready to shoot. His first season was shot on all reduced targets and his scores slowly crept up by the end of the season from a 406 to 440. Practicing off season and thru-out the winter he brought his scores up to a 470. He was de-termined to be ready for the next season when it began.

Mike was introduced to a Mas-ter classified shooter at one of the matches. To Mike then a 19 year old unclassified shooter, he was like a god, oh boy a master shooter. De-spite him being in awe they began to talk and quickly became friends. He brought Mike to one of his clubs Reading Rifle and Revolver in Read-ing MA., here he told him they have a 600 yard range. He had never seen a 600 yard range or heard of Read-ing and was more than eager to go. He was entering his first 600 yard match at Ft. Deven’s the next week-end and needed to get zeros, so this was perfect timing.

He could not believe it the first time he saw the range at Reading and immediately knew he needed to belong there. He shot a 196 for his first time at 600 yards, not too sloppy! But he did not realize that there is this thing called wind and mirage that he did not figure on when he then went to Ft Deven’s the next weekend feeling all smug about his 196. After about 7 misses on another person’s target another shooter came over and gave him a short lesson on wind. He shot lousy but learned quick about wind and its effects.

At the end of his 1998 season he picked up a couple of books on high power that gave him more insight into his performance. One was called Black Magic. He read and he dry fired all winter, determined to excel in his next season.

All things were going well, electrical apprenticeship, practicing, focus-ing, perfecting positions and he was on the list for membership at the

Reading Club. He was in where he wanted to be and felt good about it and himself.

Jan 1, 1999 he was at a local range with some fellow shooters. They were shooting 03 Springfield’s with lead loads at steel plates at 150 yards.

Mike went to shoot and the next thing he knew he was stand-ing there with the stock snapped in half in his hands, the receiver was blown to pieces and the bolt was 20 feet behind him. He stood there with his fellow shooters feel-ing numb, no pain just numb. He noticed fluid coming down his face from his right eye. He dropped the stock and waved his hand in front of his eye and saw nothing. Two paramedics who happened to be shooting on the next range came running at the sound. They and other shooters tried to get Mike to sit down. But all he wanted to do was go look in the mirror of his truck; no one would tell him if they saw anything in his eye or what was going on. He got to the truck and looked and saw nothing but red. He could not see out of his eye. They finally convinced him to sit while waiting for the ambulance. While waiting he asked others to take care of his equipment and who to call, even during such trauma Mike was in control!

He spent two and a half days in the hospital with full removal of his right eye, then he was sent home. He was very lucky a piece of the re-ceiver the size of a nickel probably deflected slightly from his shooting glasses lodged in his skull and not thru to his brain. He was 20 years

of age.

After being released from the hos-pital his parents took him home to rest. He did for about 5 full min-utes, got up and went and put on his shooting jacket. He wanted to see how confusing it was going to be to now have to shoot left handed. Not wasting any time he laid down in the prone position left handed, after few moments of trying he laid there and cried. He got up and put

In Plain Sight

Mike age 4 fishing with his dad. Mike on the range 1998

Contd. Page 16

GOAL News Print Edition September 2012 September 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 10 11

GOAL News - Print EditionGOAL News - Print EditionGOAL 2012 Election - Candidate Ratings PageIf you would like to be included on this page please contact Angi Fisher - 508-393-5333 or angi@goal.org

Incumbent Candidates with *name* are GOAL Endorsed. Please note this information is from the MA Secretary of State website, which does not list inde-pendent candidates before the primary, therefore we have no resource to research/list them here.

Key: Letter grade is based on incumbents voting and pro-activity, candidates # grade is from their candidate questionnaire, INC = Incomplete

Massachusetts House of Representatives Candidates

Massachusetts Senate Candidates U.S. Congress

Massachusetts House Candidates

1st Barnstable House DistrictCleon Turner (D): B

2nd Barnstable House DistrictBrian R. Manna (D): NR

3rd Barnstable House District*David Vieira (R): A+*

4th Barnstable House District*Sarah Peake (D): A*

5th Barnstable House District Randy Hunt (R): A

R. Patrick Ellis (D): NR

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket House DistrictTimothy R. Madden (D): B

1st Berkshire House DistrictGailanne Carriddi (D): B

2nd Berkshire House District*Paul Mark (D): A*

3rd Berkshire House DistrictTricia Farley-Bouvier (D): NR

4th Berkshire House District*William “ Smitty” Pignatelli (D): A+*

1st Bristol House District*Fred Barrows (R): A+*

2nd Bristol House District*George Ross (R): A+*Paul Heroux (D): 70%

3rd Bristol House District*Shaunna O’Connell (R): A+*Sherry Costa-Hanlon (D): NR

4th Bristol House District*Steven Howitt (R): A+*

A.Keith Carreiro (D) 96%

5th Bristol House DistrictPatricia A. Haddad (D): A

6th Bristol House District*David B. Sullivan (D): A+*

7th Bristol House DistrictKevin Aguiar (D): D

8th Bristol House DistrictPaul Schmid (D): BAlan Silvia (D): NR

9th Bristol House DistrictChristopher M. Markey (D): NR

10th Bristol House District*William M. Straus (D): A*

11th Bristol House DistrictRobert M Koczera (D): A

12th Bristol House District*Keiko Orrall (R): A*

Adam M. Bond (D): NR Roger P. Brunelle, Jr. (D): NR

13th Bristol House DistrictAntonio F. D. Cabral (D): F

14th Bristol House District*Elizabeth A. Poirier (R): A+*

1st Essex House DistrictMichael A. Costello (D): D

2nd Essex House District - Vacant SeatLeonard Mirra (R): NRBarry P. Fogel (D): NR

3rd Essex House DistrictBrian S. Dempsey (D): A

4th Essex House District*Bradford R. Hill (R): A+*

5th Essex House District*Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D): A*

6th Essex House DistrictJerry Parisella (D): NR

7th Essex House DistrictJohn Keenan (D): D

8th Essex House DistrictLori A. Ehrlich (D): D

9th Essex House District*Donald Wong (R): A+*

10th Essex House District Robert F. Fennell (D): B

Dwight J. Caufield (R): NR

11th Essex House DistrictSteven Myles Walsh (D): C

12th Essex House DistrictJoyce A. Spiliotis (D): A

13th Essex House DistrictTheodore C. Speliotis (D): D

14th Essex House DistrictKarin K. Rhoton (R): NRDiana DiZoglio (D): NR

15th Essex House DistrictLinda Dean Campbell (D): D

16th Essex House District - Vacant SeatMarco Devers (D): NR

17th Essex House District - Vacant SeatFrank A. Moran (D): NR

18th Essex House District*James J. Lyons (R): A*

Barbara L’Italien (D): NR

1st Franklin House District*Stephen Kulik (D): A+*

2nd Franklin House DistrictDenise Andrews (D): NR

Suzannah M. Whipps Lee (R): 100%Richard F. Schober Jr. (I): 50%

1st Hampden House District*Todd Smola (R): A+*

2nd Hampden House DistrictBrian Michael Ashe (D): NR

Marie Angelides (R): NR

3rd Hampden House District*Nicholas Boldgya (R): A*

Samuel Salvatore DiSanti, Jr. (D): NR

4th Hampden House District*Don Humason (R): A+*

5th Hampden House District Michael Kane (D): AAaron Vega (R): NR

6th Hampden House DistrictMichael Finn (D): NR

7th Hampden House District Thomas M. Petrolati (D): A

8th Hampden House District*Joseph F. Wagner (D): A+*

9th Hampden House DistrictSean Curran (D): B

10th Hampden House DistrictCheryl A. Rivera (D): C

11th Hampden House DistrictBenjamin Swan (D): C

12th Hampden House District*Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr. (D): A+*

D.John McCarthy (R) 98%

1st Hampshire House District*Peter V. Kocot (D): A+*

2nd Hampshire House District*John Scibak (D): A+*

3rd Hampshire House DistrictEllen Story (D): D

1st Middlesex House District*Sheila Harrington (R): A*

2nd Middlesex House District*James Arciero (D): A+*Valerie Wormell (R): INC

3rd Middlesex House District*Kate Hogan (D): A*

Chuck Kuniewich (R) 92%

4th Middlesex House District*Steven Levy (R): A*

Danielle W. Gregoire (D): NR

5th Middlesex House DistrictDavid P. Linsky (D): D

6th Middlesex House DistrictChris Walsh (D): NR

7th Middlesex House DistrictTom Sannicandro (D): D

Jon Andrew Fetherston (R): NR

8th Middlesex House District*Carolyn Dykema (D): A*

Marty Lamb (R): 100%

9th Middlesex House DistrictThomas M. Stanley (D): B

10th Middlesex House DistrictJohn J. Lawn Jr. (D): NR

Francis Stanton III (R): 88%

11th Middlesex House DistrictKay S. Khan (D): D

Greer Tan Swiston (R): NR

12th Middlesex House DistrictRuth B. Balser (D): D

13th Middlesex House DistrictThomas P. Conroy (D): F

14th Middlesex House DistrictCory Atkins (D): D

Michael J. Benn (R) 100%

15th Middlesex House DistrictJay R. Kaufman (D): C

16th Middlesex House DistrictThomas A. Golden, Jr. (D): A

17th Middlesex House District*David M. Nangle (D): A+*

Martin Burke (R) 64%

18th Middlesex House DistrictKevin J. Murphy (D): B

19th Middlesex House District *James R. Miceli (D): A+*Douglas W. Sears (R): 85%

20th Middlesex House District*Bradley H. Jones (R): A+*

21st Middlesex House District - Vacant SeatCharles A. Murphy (D): NR

22nd Middlesex House District*Marc Lombardo (R): A*

23rd Middlesex House DistrictSean Garballey (D): C

Joseph Monju (R) 100%

24th Middlesex House District - Vacant SeatThomasina Anne Olson (R): 94%

David M. Rogers (D): NR

25th Middlesex House District - Vacant SeatMarjorie C. Decker (D): NR

26th Middlesex House DistrictTimothy J. Toomey (D): D

Thomas Michael Vasconcelos (R): 100%

27th Middlesex House DistrictDenise Provost (D): D

28th Middlesex House DistrictStephen Stat Smith (D): C

29th Middlesex House DistrictJonathan Hecht (D): NR

30th Middlesex House DistrictJames J. Dwyer (D): B

31st Middlesex House DistrictJason M. Lewis (D): NR

George Gerogountlos (R): 85%

32nd Middlesex House DistrictPaul Brodeur (D): NR

33rd Middlesex House DistrictChristopher G. Fallon (D): B

34th Middlesex House DistrictCarl Sciortino (D): D

David M. Rajczewski (R): NR

35th Middlesex House DistrictPaul J. Donato (D): D

36th Middlesex House District*Colleen M. Gary (D): A*Cathy Richardson (R): NR

37th Middlesex House District*Jennifer E. Benson (D): A*

1stNorfolk House DistrictBruce J. Ayers (D): A

2nd Norfolk House DistrictTackey Chan (D): B

3rd Norfolk House District*Ronald Mariano (D): A*

4th Norfolk House DistrictJames M. Murphy (D): C

5th Norfolk House DistrictMark James Cusack (D): R

6th Norfolk House District*William C. Galvin (D): A+*

7th Norfolk House DistrictWalter F. Timilty (D): C

8th Norfolk House DistrictLouis L. Kafka (D): A

9th Norfolk House District*Dan Winslow (R): A+*

10th Norfolk House District - Vacant SeatRichard A. Eustis (R): NR

Jeffery N. Roy (D): NR

11th Norfolk House DistrictPaul McMurtry (D): B

12th Norfolk House DistrictJohn H. Rogers (D): B

James M. Stanton (R): NR

13th Norfolk House DistrictDenise Garlick (D): NR

14th Norfolk House DistrictAlice Peisch (D): D

15th Norfolk House DistrictFrank Israel Smizik (D): D

1st Plymouth House District*Vinny M. deMacedo (R): A+*

2nd Plymouth House District *Susan Williams Gifford (R): A+*

3rd Plymouth House DistrictGarrett J. Bradley (D): B

4th Plymouth House DistrictJames M. Cantwell (D): BStephen Coulter (R): 98%

5th Plymouth House DistrictRhonda L. Nyman (D): A

Korey Welch (R): 95%

6th Plymouth House District*Daniel Webster (R): A+*

Josh Cutler (D): 98%

7th Plymouth House District*Geoff Diehl (R): A+*

Robert L. Toomey (D): NR

8th Plymouth House District*Angelo D’Emilia (R): A+*

Marilee Kenney Hunt (D): INC

9th Plymouth House DistrictMichael D. Brady (D): NR

10th Plymouth House District*Christine E. Canavan (D): A+*

11th Plymouth House District - Vacant SeatDaniel J. Murphy (R): NRRobert F. Sullivan (D): NR

12th Plymouth House DistrictThomas J. Calter (D): ADeborah Betz (R): 96%

1st Suffolk House DistrictCarlo Basile (D): D

Berkshire, Hampshire & Franklin Senate DistrictBenjamin Brackett Downing (D): A

Bristol and Norfolk Senate District*James Timilty (D): A+*

Jeffrey Robert Bailey (R): NR

1st Bristol and Plymouth Senate District*Michael Rodrigues (D): A+*

2nd Bristol and Plymouth Senate DistrictMark Montigny (D): C

Cape & Islands Senate DistrictDaniel A. Wolf (D): NR

1st Essex Senate District Vacant SeatShaun P. Toohey (R): NR

Kathleen A. O’Connor-Ives (D): NR

2nd Essex Senate District Vacant SeatJoan B. Lovely (D): NR

Richard A. Jolitz (R): NR

3rd Essex Senate DistrictThomas M. McGee (D): C

1st Essex and Middlesex Senate District*Bruce E. Tarr (R): A+*

2nd Essex and Middlesex Senate DistrictBarry R. Finegold (D): C

*Paul Adams (R): A+*Alex J. Vispoli (R): 94%

Hampden Senate DistrictJames T. Welch (D): A

1st Hampden and Hampshire Senate DistrictGale D. Candaras (D): C

2nd Hampden and Hampshire Senate District*Michael R. Knapik (R): A+*

Hampshire, Franklin, & Worcester Senate DistrictStanley C. Rosenberg (D): A

1st Middlesex Senate DistrictEileen Donoghue (D): DJames J. Buba (R): 98%

2nd Middlesex Senate DistrictPatricia Jehlen (D): C

3rd MiddlesexSenate District Vacant Seat*Sandy Martinez (R): 100%*

Michael J. Barrett (D):

4th Middlesex Senate DistrictKenneth Donnelly (D): A

Dr. Gerry Dembrowski (R): 100%

5th Middlesex Senate DistrictKatherine M. Clark (D): C

1st Middlesex and Norfolk Senate DistrictCynthia S. Creem (D): F

2nd Middlesex and Norfolk Senate DistrictKaren Spilka (D): C

Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex Senate DistrictSal DiDomenico (D): NR

Middlesex and Worcester Senate DistrictJames B. Eldridge (D): C

Dean J. Cavaretta (R): 100%

Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex Senate District*Richard Ross (R): A+*

Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth Senate DistrictBrian A. Joyce (D): B

Norfolk and Plymouth Senate DistrictJohn F. Keenan (D): NR

Norfolk & Suffolk Senate DistrictMichael F. Rush (D): A

Plymouth and Barnstable Senate DistrictTherese Murray (D): C

Thomas F. Keyes (R): 100%

1st Plymouth and Bristol Senate District*Mark R. Pacheco (D): A+*

2nd Plymouth and Bristol Senate DistrictThomas P. Kennedy (D): B

Plymouth and Norfolk Senate District*Robert L. Hedlund (R): A+*

Genevieve S. Davis (D):

1st Suffolk Senate District*John A. Hart (D): C*

2nd Suffolk Senate DistrictSonia Chang-Diaz (D): F

1st Suffolk and Middlesex Senate DistrictAnthony W. Petruccelli (D): B

Thomas J. Dooley III (R):

2nd Suffolk and Middlesex Senate DistrictVacant Seat

William N. Brownsberger (D):Steven W. Aylward (R): 100%

1st Worcester Senate DistrictHarriette L. Chandler (D): B

2nd Worcester Senate District*Michael O. Moore (D): A+*

Stephen R. Simonian (R):

2nd Suffolk House DistrictEugene L. O’Flaherty (D): B

3rd Suffolk House DistrictAaron Michlewitz (D): NR

4th Suffolk House DistrictNicholas Collins (D): NR

5th Suffolk House DistrictCarlos Henriquez (D): NR

6th Suffolk House DistrictRussell Holmes (D): D

7th Suffolk House DistrictGloria L. Fox (D): D

8th Suffolk House DistrictMartha Mary Walz (D): D

9th Suffolk House DistrictByron Rushing (D): D

10th Suffolk House DistrictEdward F. Coppinger (D): NR

11th Suffolk House DistrictElizabeth A. Malia (D): D

12th Suffolk House DistrictLinda Dorcena Forry (D): C

13th Suffolk House DistrictMartin J. Walsh (D): A

14th Suffolk House District Angelo M. Scaccia (D): B

15th Suffolk House DistrictJeffrey Sanchez (D): D

16th Suffolk House DistrictKathi-Anne Reinstein (D): C

17th Suffolk House DistrictKevin G. Honan (D): D

18th Suffolk House DistrictMichael J. Moran (D): C

19th Suffolk House DistrictRobert A. DeLeo (D): B

Paul A. Caruccio (R): NR

1st Worcester House District*Kimberly Ferguson (R): A+*

2nd Worcester House District

Rich Bastien (R): AJon Zlotnik (D) 90%

3rd Worcester House District*Stephen L. DiNatale (D): A+*

4th Worcester House DistrictDennis A. Rosa (D): B

Justin Brooks (R): 100%

5th Worcester House District*Ann Gobi (D): A+*

Jason M. Petraitis (R) 100%

6th Worcester House District*Peter Durant (R): A*

Kathleen Walker (D): 70%

7th Worcester House District*Paul K. Frost (R): A+*

8th Worcester House DistrictKevin Kuros (R): 100%

Robert J. Dubois (D): NR

9th Worcester House District*George N. Peterson, Jr. (R): A+*

10th Worcester House District

*John V. Fernandes (D): A*

11th Worcester House District*Matthew A. Beaton (R): A+*

12th Worcester House District*Harold P. Naughton (D): A+*

13th Worcester House DistrictJohn Mahoney (D): NR

14th Worcester House DistrictJames O’Day (D): F

William J. McCarthy (R): NR

15th Worcester House District - Vacant SeatBrian O’Malley (R): 100%

Mary S. Keefe (D): NR

16th Worcester House District*John P. Fresolo (D): A+*

17th Worcester House District*John J. Binienda, Sr. (D): A+*

WIlliam G. LeBeau (R): NR

18th Worcester House District*Ryan Fattman (R): A+*

Donald Bourque (D): 95%

First Congressional DistrictRichard E. Neal (D): F

Second Congressional DistrictJames P. McGovern (D): F

Third Congressional DistrictNicola Tsongas (D): F

Jonathan A. Golnick (R): 100%

Fourth Congressional DistrictSean Bielat (R): 100%

Joseph P. Kennedy III (D) NR

Fifth Congressional DistrictEdward Markey (D): F

Thomas Tierney (R): 100%

Sixth Congressional DistrictJohn Tierney (D): F

*Richard Tisei (R): A*

Seventh Congressional DistrictMichael E. Capuano (D): F

Eighth Congressional DistrictStephen F. Lynch (D): F

Joe Selvaggi (R): NR

Ninth Congressional DistrictWilliam R. Keating (D): FAdam Chaprales (R): 94%

Christopher Sheldon (R) NR

Note: candidates with ** around there name areGOAL Endorsed Candidates.

Please be sure to vote for gun rightsSupport these candidates.

Also note if there are two candidates of thesame party listed for the same seat, at the time of

printing the race had not yet been determinedas it was too close to call.

Upcoming Events - Join us!2012 Annual Crushing Clays Junior Trap Championship

Sponsored by GOAL and the North Leominster Rod & Gun Club

Date: Sunday, September 23, 2012

Time: 9:00am

Eligibility: Competitors must be eighteen years of age or younger

Targets: 25 targets for warm-up (optional) and 50 targets for score

Entry Fee: $25.00 includes targets, prizes, lunch.

Registration: Entries should be received by September 17th. Please send name and check made payable to: GOAL Crushing Clays 361 W.Main St. Northboro, MA 01532

Equipment: Competitors will need at least 75 rounds of ammunition, a 12ga or 20ga shotgun, eye protection and ear protection.

Awards: Based on the Lewis system. Competitors will be separated into 3 classes based on their ability. Awards given to 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in each class.

Gun Show - Marlboro MA - Royal Plaza Best Western - September 22 and September 23.

Topsfield Fair - Topsfield MA - Look for the GOAL booth in the Out-doorsman Building from September 28 - October 8. (Can you volunteer to man the booth? We’re looking for GOAL Members to help us out, please call Angi at the GOAL office if so 508-393-5333 x20)

GOAL News Print Edition September 2012 September 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 12 13

GOAL Training News, Notes and Schedule for Upcoming Classes at GOAL

Upcoming Training with GOAL - Sign Up For A Great Class Today!•Intro to the Modern Sporting Rifle - AR15 - September 11 - This course

will cover nomenclature, proper loading and unloading, zeroing, clearing common malfunctions and maintenance of the AR15 style rifle.

•Intro to the NRA Courses - September 20 - This class will help prepare NRA Instructor Candidates for successful participation in NRA Instruc-tor courses.

•Introduction to IDPA - September 25 - Learn how to compete in IDPA!•Home Firearm Safety - September 26 - Refresh or Use to Get your LTC!•Introduction to IDPA - September 29 - Learn how to compete in IDPA!•Basic Pistol Course (NRA LTC-002) - October 2 - Get your LTC!•The Art of Concealed Carry - October 4 - A must take for MA residents•MA Gun Law for Citizens - October 9 - Untangle the web of MA Law•Basic Metallic Cartridge Reloading - October 16 - 17 - Learn how to

reload your own ammo!•*New Course! Practical Self Defense - October 25 - Learn practical and

effective self defense principals

•Basic Pistol Course (NRA LTC-002) - October 30 - Get your LTC!•*New Course! Practical Self Defense - November 7 - Learn practical

and effective self defense principals•Utah Non-Resident CCW - November 8 - Get a license to carry a firearm

recognized by 29 states!•Basic Pistol Course (NRA LTC-002) - November 13 - Get your LTC!•MA Gun Law for Citizens - November 20 - Untangle the web of MA Law•Instructor Course: NRA Basic Pistol and Home Firearm Safety -

November 30 - December 2 - Become an NRA Certified Instructor.•Basic Pistol Course (NRA LTC-002) - December 4 - Get your LTC!•The Art of Concealed Carry - December 6 - A must take for MA resi-

dents

To Sign Up for Classes, call Angi at the GOAL Office, 508-393-5333 x20 for more information on any of the GOAL Classes visit us online at.www.goal.org/training/schedule.html

GOAL News - Print Edition

AdvertiseIn GOAL NewsPrint Edition!

Local gun club offers fun and education to familiesBy Kaitlyn Wallace

Aiden Koplovsky, a resident of Dux-bury, has been shooting since he was ten and remembers how easy it was to walk into Old Colony Sports-men’s Association a year and a half ago and ask how he could get in-volved.

“It was difficult. Forever I couldn’t talk about it,” Koplovsky, 17, said about his love for shooting sports. Having lived down the street from Old Colony for years, he said the ease with which he was able to be-come a member and get his family involved was incredible.

“Even if you’ve never owned a gun or seen a gun before in your life, it is so easy,” Koplovsky said. “They all have guns that they’re willing to share and teach you on.”

Koplovsky now shoots competition shotgun and rifle and is an active member of the club, shooting with his friends up to four times a week.

Old Colony Sportsmen’s Associa-tion, Inc. was founded in 1929, but according to club President Mike Del Rosso, many changes have oc-curred since then. More recently the clubhouse has been renovated to be a rentable function hall with handicap accessible bathrooms and entrances. Saturdays and Sundays, families enjoy breakfast served by the club cook, Nikki Bayles.

Old Colony features an indoor pis-tol and archery range, skeet and trap fields, indoor to outdoor pistol and rifle ranges and a black pow-der range complete with log cabin. Many of the ranges are also heated so that shooting can commence throughout the colder seasons.

Longtime member Derryl Cobbett says the club is most concerned with providing education about the safe handling and shooting of firearms. “We want you to come here and en-joy the sport,” she said. “There’s a lot of fun to be had here.”

Prior to becoming a member, a per-son must fill out an application and go through a safety orientation to ensure they know proper range and handling safety. Then, during the members meeting on the first Mon-day of every month, they become official members.

“Generally the people that come here are great. They want to shoot, they want to learn,” Cobbett said. “Some have never handled a firearm in their life.”

Del Rosso added that those who are in the military or are full time col-lege students don’t pay membership

dues. The club sees about seven to 15 new members every month.

“When you come in here, you can see your dues at work,” said Del Rosso, who takes pride in how clean the facilities are. “This shotgun field could easily be on the front cover of any skeet magazine. We put a lot of effort into it.”

In general, Del Rosso says the com-munity has been very supportive. “The neighbors are great,” he said, adding that many of Pembroke’s police officers are members of the club. According to both Cobbett and Del Rosso, the club does its best to respect the surrounding commu-nity.

“Gun firing doesn’t start here until 10 A.M. and we stop at dusk.” Del Rosso said. The starting time is not a law, but a practice meant to re-spect the neighboring houses.

“Safety is of the utmost impor-tance,” Cobbett said. “We are true environmentalists here. We under-stand land conservation and we take care of our property. We want streams clean.” Del Rosso said the club recently spent about $300,000 to remove lead from the property.

The club hosts several clinics for women and children, which both Cobbett and Koplovsky say are im-portant for the future of the sport. Del Rosso personally offers free lessons in any of the shooting dis-ciplines to his members. They also offer National Rifle Association certified basic pistol courses, which are required for anyone trying to get their license to carry a pistol in Massachusetts. Soon they will be of-fering Hunter Education Courses as well.

“One of the things that we want to see more of is women and children and families here,” Cobbett said.

Old Colony has several shooting teams, including junior shotgun and

rifle teams. This year Old Colony is sponsoring a team of five juniors to go to the state shotgun competition.

“There are a lot of things for kids to do here,” Del Rosso said. For those who don’t have their own firearms or bows, the club has several that are available for member’s use.

Cobbett said the club’s board of di-rectors also makes sure the club is up to current standard and law, an endeavor she says can be difficult in Massachusetts.

“Let’s face it, Massachusetts makes it very difficult,” she said. “We al-ways want to keep this club current and on good terms with the law.”

Koplovsky recently came back from National Rifle Association Youth Education Summit, where he learned about federal law and the importance of being an advocate for gun rights. One of his goals is to help the club educate the public and bring in more young shooters so that the sport is less intimidating to the general public.

“The state takes the attitude that everything is a weapon,” Cobbett said. “Everything a gun owner must

do is all done under the guise of the Criminal Bureau of Investigation. Well, for God sakes, neither one of us are criminals, yet these are the agencies we have to report to.”

Koplovsky says he has noticed a change in the way people talk about firearms. He believes, that for his younger brothers, sharing interest in the sport with their peers has be-come less taboo.

“It all has to do with the way that you talk about it.” Koplovsky said. “Once people see that you’re knowl-edgeable about it, you’re not doing unsafe things and you’re coming to a place like this to go shooting they respond better.”

Cobbett encourages the public to come to the club on September 23rd during their open house, where they can try any of the sports Old Colony facilitates and the only ticket in is to bring a child. She said last year the event had about 100 children in at-tendance.

“We all have fun when we come down here, but at the same time, when we’re out on the firing range we take it seriously.” Koplovsky said.

Koplovsky, a regular at Old Colony, in action breaking some clays on the shotgun range.

GOAL Welcomes Acclaimed Trainer Rob PincusLast month GOAL Training welcomed Rob Pincus of I.C.E. Training. Rob always teaches a fun, dynamic, and highly instructive class and we are very grateful to have him on our yearly calendar. This years offerings, Combat Focus Shooting, and Advanced Pistol Tecniques were sold out well in advance. We will have a new class to offer with Rob next year, keep an eye on the GOAL website for the new schedule soon!

The Combat Focus class with GOAL Staffer Jon Green (R), Rob Pincus (L) and Ian Strimeck and Matt DeVito of Down Range Firearms Training at cen-ter.

The CFS targets are a fun and challenging way to hone your shooting skills, they offer a number of different areas to aim at and require speed and preci-sion to master.

Rob instructs the class on a segment. His classes contain a lot of live fire, be prepared to go through lots of ammo if you take one!

Shooting drills. Drawing, aiming and firing is practiced over and over in a fun and safe way, students leave Rob’s class tired and much more confident in their shooting skills.

New Course! Practical Self - Defense with Michael Anthony. This course will focus on practical and effective self-defense principals based on what the body normally does before any training. In other words, it concen-trates on natural, every day movements applied to defensive situations. The course uses a combination of class discussion, videos, and practical physi-cal workshop to practice the motions and understand how to deliver maxi-mum impact. Students will gain a better understanding of the emotional, psychological, and physical aspects of violent confrontations, and be better prepared to manage them. See class schedule below for more information.

Mike Anthony demonstrates flinch reflex

GOAL News Print Edition September 2012 September 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 14 15

GOAL News - Print Edition GOAL News - Print Edition

9/4/12 Thank You GOAL Members! The GOAL Staff and Board of Direc-tors has been astounded at the outpouring of support as we continue our mission to to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights against those in Massachusetts who wish to infringe upon the freedoms guaranteed by our forefathers.

Donors:W. Gibson, A. Borneman, D. Giavis, E. Bouchard, M. Simone, J. Quintal, Sr., D. Mack, L. Hoffman, R. St.George, E. Vanetzian, T. Heffernan, C. Ad-ams, D. Crimmings, J. McGrath, K. DeGray, Sr., A. Hincman, Jr., G. Har-rington, L. Gnerre, P. McKenna, K. Hitz, T. Hodgkins, P. Gness, W. Masino, J. Burt, D. Drawec, W. Owens, Jr., S. Pazurchek, B. Bunker, W. Gillmeister, P. Skinner, R. Ryan, D. Myers.

Sustaining DonorsE. Foley, D. MacEachern, J. DeDominicis, D. Brown, A. Swift

Thank You Members! Donations and Support Keep Coming!

Would you like to save GOAL $$ and not miss a bit of news? It’s easy!

You can help us out by ‘unsub-scribing’ to our mailings, including this newspaper by calling us at the GOAL office; let us know that you wish to ‘go paperless’. Dont worry, we will have the monthly GOAL Newspaper posted online for free viewing every month! If you have e-mail you can also get our weekly mailing, the ever popular ‘Friday News’ by visiting our website - www.goal.org and clicking on the ‘Friday News’ logo at the bottom of any page. Every member that ‘un-subscribes’ from this newspaper contributes to our cause - the resto-ration of our Second Amendment freedoms in Massachusetts.

Thank you the GOAL Staff

with prejudice to discourage future litigation of a similar nature,” Keane said.

Organizations that joined CBD in its lawsuit were the Cascades Raptor Center of Oregon, the Loon Lake Loon Association of Washington, Preserve Our Wildlife of Florida, Tennessee Ornithological Society, Trumpeter Swan Society and West-ern Nebraska Resources Council.

NSSF - Traditional Ammo contd. from page 9

serviceable. You might also want to check with your local Coast Guard or Environmental Police, they occasionally have courtesy boat inspection opportunities that will help you out.

•Waders are important part of a lot of hunters gear. Be sure to pull them out early and check to make sure a family of mice has not made a home. Also, put them on and head down to a local stream or body of water to check for leaks. There is noth-ing like finding out in 40 degree water that their waders are fill-ing up with water. Also, if you are going to hunt cold weather and have not tried neoprene style waders I suggest giving them a good look. They can mean the difference between hypothermia and getting home safely.

•Deer hunters double check your field dressing and dragging gear. Nothing like deer or moose hair to dull a field knife so throw a small sharpening stone or steel in your pack.

•If you plan on taking down a big game animal be sure you have the means and ability to handle it once it is down. Be aware of how big the animal may be, how far you are going to have to move it, etc.

•Speaking of dressing deer, be very aware that a piece of your arrow head could have broken off inside the animal. So take great care when reaching into the cavity in the field.

•Don’t forget to check the “hunter orange” regulations where you will be hunting. Different states have different rules as well as different seasons within states have different rules.

Massachusetts General Law Chapter 131, Section 71. A person shall not, during the open season when deer may be hunted lawful-ly with a shotgun, hunt or enter the woodlands of the common-wealth for the purpose of hunting unless he wears in a conspicuous manner or his chest, back and head a minimum of five hun-dred square inches of clothing or material of a hunter orange color which meets such requirements as the director may by rules and regulations establish. This section shall not apply to any person en-gaged in waterfowl hunting from within a blind or from a boat.

One of the rules that can trip up waterfowl hunters is the hunter orange during deer season. The law exempts those hunting from within a blind or from a boat, but does not exempt from walk-

ing to a blind or boat. So, while you are walking across the field or marsh to get to your blind or boat be sure to meet the hunter orange requirements for that season.

Also be very aware that some states are now being very par-ticular about faded equipment. This means that the favorite hat or vest that you have hunted with for years might have faded in col-or and may not meet the require-ments any longer.

Massachusetts CMR 321 3.01(2) Requirements Defining Hunter Or-ange :

Hunter orange color is a daylight fluo-rescent orange color with a dominant wave length between 595 and 605 nanometers, excitation purity not less than 85 percent and luminance factor of not less than 40 percent.

ATV users:

•For those who take the woods with an ATV there is a little known law that you should be aware of concerning the trans-portation of guns on ATVs: Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90B, Section 26(2)(g) No person shall carry a firearm, rifle or shotgun in or on a snow vehicle or recreation vehicle or on a trailer or sled attached thereto unless such firearm, rifle or shotgun is unloaded and in an enclosed case. This section shall not apply to a law enforcement officer or other person with enforcement powers authorized in section 32, or to a paraplegic as provided in section 65 of chapter 131.

Don’t forget the hunting partners, dogs that is:

•While we humans have spent the summer bellying up to the grille, chances are your hunting dog has as well. Just like yourself, make sure your pup is in shape for a day in the field. A common mistake for new hunting dog

owners is to think because the pup plays fetch a few times a week that they will be fine for hours of hard hunting. Early season can be especially tough on the pups with temps in the 60’s and some-times 70’s. During these warm days make sure to stop the pup for rest regularly and keep them hydrated.

•For all of my dogs, but especially the older ones I have found that a dose of Bufferin at the end of

the day really helps with those first of the season hunts sore-ness. Remember, they get just as sore and achy from hard days in the field.

•For those that hunt on or around or the salt marshes dog hydra-tion is especially important. You want to try to discourage your buddy from drinking saltwa-ter so keeping them hydrated by other means is important.

•Do you have a first aid kit set up for your pup? This is very impor-tant if you go to remote hunting spots where immediate access to a vet is virtually impossible. Check with your local vet for ideas or there are several kits on the market already put together.

•Another important tip is to watch their diet. Most pups in summer time don’t use a lot of energy, but when the season starts they are burning a lot more. Check with you vet or perhaps an experi-enced hunting dog owner to see what they recommend. Keep in mind that some older dogs don’t handle a lot of extra protein well.

•Don’t forget to protect your pups from ticks while in the field. Although I use the normal Frontline or similar product I also give them a quick spray of flea and tick repellent just before we let them lose in the field. (I also will use the same product to quickly spray down my boots

and field pants.)

Licenses and stamps:

•The state has transitioned to an online licensing system here in Massachusetts as have many states around the country. Where ever you are hunting, be sure to check for new rule and or licensing changes. This should include check-in and tagging rules. The Massachusetts system can be found at www.MassFish-Hunt.org. General information regarding seasons and regulation changes can be found at www.MassWildlife.org.

•Maine: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/licenses_permits/index.htm

•New Hampshire: https://www.nhfishandgame.com/

•Vermont: http://www.vtfishand-wildlife.com/buylicense.cfm

•Connecticut: https://ct.outdoorcentral.net/Internet-Sales

•Rhode Island: http://www.dem.r i .gov/programs/bpoladm/manserv/hfb/hunting/hunting.htm

•New York: https://nyfgisales.appsolgrp.com/fgnyia/html/index.jsp

If you are hunting game that needs to be tagged make sure you have the means to fill out the tags and secure it to the animal if required where you are hunting. A lot of experi-enced hunters will carry a few extra small Ziploc type bags to put the tag in. This keeps it out of the weather while it is attached to the animal.

If you are a migratory bird hunter make sure you have the required stamps on your person. That gen-erally means a general license with a state stamp and a federal stamp. Also be aware of the HIP (Harvest Information Program) reporting requirements. Below is a posting from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife concerning new HIP procedures. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/hunting/waterfowl/waterfowl_hunting_home.htm

NEW THIS YEAR: HIP surveys can only be completed through the new MassFishHunt system. HIP numbers will no longer be issued and the HIP survey is not available by telephone. Non-resident hunters are reminded they must register for the Massachu-setts HIP system in order to hunt mi-gratory game birds in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts HIP registration is valid for the calendar year only.

To see if you are already registered with HIP, you can:

1) Check your hunting/sporting li-cense in the Item Purchased section.

If you see a line item that reads: “Wa-terfowl Stamp” or “HIP Survey Com-pleted”, you have already completed the process; or

2) Log on to the MassFishHunt web-site and check your customer inven-tory. If you don’t see “Waterfowl Stamp” or “HIP Survey Completed”, you can purchase the state waterfowl stamp or complete the HIP survey through your home computer or at a local license vendor.

Hunters obtaining a state waterfowl stamp automatically complete the HIP survey during the stamp pur-chase process. Waterfowl hunters who purchased a state waterfowl stamp to hunt in January and February of 2012 are already registered for the entire calendar year and do not need to do anything in the fall.

Migratory game bird hunters who only hunt woodcock, snipe, or rails must complete a HIP survey as a separate step during or after their hunting/sporting license purchase ei-ther at their home (or public library) computer or through a sporting li-cense vendor or DFW office.

Aside from hunting licenses and stamps in Massachusetts, make sure to keep your FID card or License to Carry with you in the field. This can save you a lot of heartache if you get checked by an official in the field.

Most importantly is to follow stor-age and/or transportation laws con-

cerning firearms either within Mas-sachusetts or traveling elsewhere. The National Rifle Association has a very good reference page for inter-state travel: http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/articles/2010/guide-to-the-interstate-transportation.aspx

For such things inside of Massa-chusetts go to GOAL’s webpage on the matter: http://www.goal.org/masslawpages/storageinfo.html. It is most crucial in Massachusetts to understand the difference between the storage and transportation laws. Do yourself a big favor and get fa-miliar with them.

Another very important safety step is to pre-scout your favorite spots before every season. On several oc-casions I can remember coming back to an area that we had hunted for years only to find a new housing development as sprung up. While scouting, keep that five hundred foot rule in mind and be thoughtful and courteous to land owners.

While all of these points are certain-ly not everything we need to keep in mind for the upcoming seasons, I hope the information was helpful. Please have a safe and great time in the field this season and don’t forget to share the outdoor heritage with someone new this year, youth or adult.

Here’s to backstrap over a campfire and the smell of Fall in the air.

Make sure your dog is ready to go as well!

Contd. next page

Hunting Tips for Success Contd. from page 1 Hunting Tips for Success GOAL Launches - AG LTC Inquiry

GOAL Staffer Jon Green prepared well and was rewarded!

the system is the complete lack of any means to track the progress of one’s application, new or renewal. Massachusetts citizens pay an exor-bitant fee to exercise their Second Amendment civil rights, more than double of any other New England state, yet the licensing system in the Commonwealth is horribly ineffi-cient and not user friendly. For ex-ample, if a citizen files an applica-tion to the local licensing authority as outlined in the system they often have to wait weeks if not months for an appointment to do so. If they are able to get an appointment, the fingerprints are taken and the fee is collected and it is at this point where many citizens are left wait-ing with no answers. When citizens inquire as to the progress of their application, many cities and towns ask them not to call anymore and that the authority will contact them when it is completed. If an appli-cant calls the state Firearms Record Bureau to check on the status, the state will not have any record of the application if it has not been for-warded to them. In many cases this

situation will only further frustrate the applicant as the town will blame the state and the state will in turn say they have no record or they have already returned it to the town.

Perhaps the irony of this entire problem is that one would think that if a state is so concerned with the licensing and tracking of its citi-zens, that the state would have an efficient system in place to conduct that practice. Of course in the minds of many of our members is that the system is specifically made to be frustrating as to discourage them from exercising their civil rights.

Whatever may be the case, on behalf of GOAL I would like to request that your office conduct an investigation into the constant illegal delays and lack of efficiency of the system in general. I look forward to a resolu-tion of the matter and if I can be of any assistance at all in the matter please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

James L. Wallace

Executive Director

GOAL News Print Edition September 2012 September 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 16 17

Club News - Copicut Rifle Association

AdvertiseIn GOAL NewsPrint Edition!

Join GOAL!

Gun Owners’ Action League is the official state firearms association in Massachusetts. We are an asso-ciation of law-abiding citizens who believe in the basic right of firearms ownership for competition, recre-ation and self-protection.

Every intrusion on our gun rights is an intrusion on all rights. The Con-stitutional rights and freedoms that you enjoy - and may take for grant-ed - are becoming more fragile each day. Secure your rights for yourself, your family and future generations. Join GOAL and become part of the solution today.

This newspaper is made possible by the membership of GOAL and their generous donations. If you found this paper helpful please Join - Sup-port - Donate to GOAL. Join online at www.goal.org/joingoal.html

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GOAL News - Print Edition

everything away, but he was not giv-ing up. Day by day he got down into position and worked building his left handed positions. When it did not work he reversed back to right and then tried to mirror the position left. By March he was de-termined and went to the range to practice rapid fire and worked more on position.

Reading put his application process on hold knowing he would return someday and would wait until he felt he was ready to begin the process again. In April of 1999 Mike shot his first 600 yard match as a lefty with an AR15. He shot a 198 with 7x’s, jokingly he was told to give it up and go home. His place at Read-ing was truly established. He smiled and walked off that range with great hope and expectations. His other positions that day may not have been so great but who cared after that 198. He went back to work to perfect his other positions to make them solid as they once were.

In 1999 he went from a Marksman to an Expert as a lefty. Over the 2000 winter he practiced and dry fired so he would come into the season ready and he did winning his first 5 matches. By the end of the year he was now the one being called “Mas-

ter” and a long range Expert. He just missed High Master by one tenth of a point, but since nothing came easy to him he was not disturbed it just made him push harder to achieve this next level.

Over the next couple of years he shot but could not meet his own expectations and burnt himself out. Realizing this he put his rifle down and walked away from competitions for 4 years. Over that time he joined the State Guard and started his own electrical company.

Then one day in August of 2005 he woke up and realized his friends were all out at the National Matches in Ohio having a great time and here he was at home missing out. Shak-ing the mothballs out he donned his shooting jacket once more and headed to his local range to start working his way back home to his shooting friends, his family. This time he was not going to beat him-self up if he did not shoot up to ex-pectations, he was doing it because he loved doing it. It was and is the

ultimate sport for him!

Shooting all matches from 2005 to 2008 he was in the constant chase for High Master, Presidents 100 and his Distinguished Medal. In 2008 he realized he had hit a stone wall and needed to do something to move to the next level. Finally after coming in as first leather 5 times in a row he now had won his first points to-ward his distinguished. This came with his first 6 points earned at a leg match held at Reading. This was the boost he needed to push on. He felt the “monkey was now off his back” giving himself the confidence to do more.

2009 he won 10 more points at the National Matches and a Gold Dan-iel Boone Medal. Determined that he had the ability to succeed he felt he needed more help in the men-tal aspect then physical. He picked up Lanny Bassham’s cd on Mental Management and listened to them over and over again. This put it all together for him like a bible for him to follow.

Determined in his efforts he went distinguished in 2010, High Mas-ter in 2011 and the Presidents 100 in 2012. Mike always felt that his handicaps as they are called, acted more of an accelerant for him pro-pelling him always forward not back.

Now at 34, some 15 years after that first match he can look back at his disabilities, knowing the efforts to overcome them was worth every minute. Mike’s day to day challeng-es are minor compared to some, but his attitude gave him hope to see his dreams come through. I am very proud to call him my friend and I have learned a lot about life from him and I hope others can to.

Shooting lefty. 1999

Mike with Ty Cooper. 2012 Rifle Awards Ceremony

In Plain Sight Contd. from page 9 August NotesMembership:

Anyone wishing to join the club can contact: Ray Raposa (508) 636-5250 or rayraposa@verizon.net.

You must have a valid NRA and G.O.A.L. number (SEND A COPY WITH YOUR RENEWAL TO.)

Mailing Address

Copicut Rifle Association

P.O. Box 3049

Westport, Ma. 02790

You will not receive a key without your valid membership numbers and expiration dates.

You can renew your NRA or G.O.A.L. through CRA. Annual dues $50.00, Initiation fee $25.00, NRA - 1yr- $35.00 G.O.A.L. – 1 yr- $30.00.

CRA ranges are located on Qua-napoag Road in Fall River, MA. We have a 25yd Pistol Range, 100yd, 200yd and 300yd Rifle Ranges.

Check our website for directions at www.copicutrifleassociation.org

Officers of Copicut Rifle Associa-tion:

President- George Tripp: tripp62@comcast.net.

Vice President- Paul Leblanc: rleblanc10@ieee.org.

Secretary- Scott Clarke: pistolshoot-er63@yahoo.com.

Treasurer- Ray Raposa: rayraposa@verizon.net

BOD Members:

Kurt Palmer: kpalmer@jkusa.com. Marty Casey: sailorcasey@verizon.net.

Russ Sylvia: rochbus@hotmail.com.

Rhode Island League

Copicut Rifle Association has two excellent rifle teams that compete in the Rhode Island League Match-es. We are always looking for rifle shooters that will become serious to compete with us. Any Copicut member who would like to shoot for the Copicut teams in the Rhode Island League can contact Ray Ra-posa at (508) 636-5250 or rayrapo-sa@verizon.net

50 rd NMC

The National Match Course matches are for beginning and ex-perienced shooters who want to become good rifle shooters and perhaps shoot in the RI League as they develop their shooting skills. Some guns and ammo are available at these shoots with some instruc-tion for shooting the matches. All shoots start @ 9:00 am. For more

info contact Ray @ rayraposa@veri-zon.net or (508) 636-5250.

CMP

The CMP matches are for begin-ning rifle shooters and are also for those CRA members who want to qualify for CMP Garand rifles, and 1903 rifles from the Civilian Marks-manship Program sponsored by the government. Some guns and ammo are available for new shooters to use at these shoots. All shoots start @ 10:00 am. For more info contact Ron Leblanc - rleblanc10@ieee.org

Garand & Vintage

This shoot is open to beginner and experienced shooters with a fun and relaxed atmosphere for any-one wanting to shoot M1 Garands, Springfield ‘03’s or any vintage mili-tary style rifle. M1A’s can now be shot in this shoot. The club also has Garand’s & M1 Carbines if you wish to shoot & don’t have a rifle. Coach-ing and ammo is available.

For more info Contact Kurt Palmer (508) 676-9181 or kpalmer@jkusa.com

Scores from the 7/23/12 shoot are below. Thank you all for coming.Watch for the next date.

CLASSIC MILITARY RIFLE MATCH - Sunday July 23, 2012

*AS ISSUED GARAND*

1 - Eric Moquin 281 – 5x FIRST PLACE.

2 - Ken Souza 280 – 6x SECOND PLACE .

3 - John Polseno 265 – 4x THIRD PLACE.

4 - BIG Frank S. 262 – 2x .

5 - Marc Biszko 261 - 4x.

6 - Joe Biszko 236 - 3x.

7 - Ed Casey 223.

8 - Dennis LeClair 180.

9 - Kelly Medeiros 180.

10 – Harry Irving 132.

11 - Tony Medeiros 124

*VINTAGE BOLT ACTION*

1 - Kurt Palmer 284 – 6x FIRST PLACE SWISS MAUSER

2 - Ken Souza 284 – 5x SECOND PLACE 03 SPRINGFIELD

3 - John Polseno 279 – 1x THRID PLACE 03 SPRINGFIELD

4 - John Beaumont 259 – 1x SHMIDT REUBIN.

5 - Bob Platt 193 JAP-ORASAKA.

*M1A/M14 RIFLE*

1 - Ken Souza 293 – 4x FIRST PLACE

2 - Ken Phillips 291 – 8x SECOND PLACE

3 - John Polseno 279 – 4x THIRD PLACE

4 - Anthony Freitas 225 - 1x. 5 - Mi-chael Delany 189 - 1x

* M1 CARBINE*

1 - Harry Irving 216 – 1x FIRST PLACE

2 – Ed Casey 161 – 1x SECOND PLACE

3 - Geo Stuart 131 THRID PLACE

THANKS TO ALL WHO PAR-TICIPATED AND KEPT IT A FUN SHOOT!!!

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MARTY CASEY - FOR THE OUTSTAND-ING TROPHIES & PLAQUES!!!

Special THANK YOU to Laurie & Steve Ferreira for their donation.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL & EVEN MORE FOLKS FOR THE NEXT MATCH!

***WATCH FOR FLYERS***

THANK YOU!!!! Kurt Palmer Mar-ty Casey.

CRA Schedule for 2012:

NMC - National Match Course 9/16/12.

RIL - 9/23 @ Wallum Lake 9am, 10/7 @ South C. 9am.

Contact rayraposa@verizon.net

CMP - 10/6 CMP Over the Course (Saturday) Contact rleblanc10@jeee.org for more information.

Zoot Shoots:

10/13/12 Saturday 9AM, 11/1012 Saturday 9AM.

Contact torlo67193@aol.com for more information.

John C. Garand Vintage Military

To Be Announced!! Contact kpalm-er@jkusa.com for more informa-tion.

GOAL News Print Edition September 201218 May 2012 GOAL News Print Edition 19

The Reloading Bench

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shooters, the Ruger® LCR® is the evolution of the

revolver. The Ruger® LCR® is a lightweight, small-

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highly manageable recoil. Available in three calibers,

there is an LCR® for every need – from personal

protection to low cost practice at the range.

The RugeR®

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www.RugeR.Com/LCR ©2012 Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. 072712

22 LR

38 SPL+P

357 Mag

Patented Ruger® friction reducing cam is a next generation design in fire control systems with an optimized cam that results

in a smooth, non-stacking trigger pull.

High-strength stainless steel cylinder is extensively fluted

(reducing weight) and is treated to an advanced form of

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Patent-pending polymer fire control housing holds all the fire control

components in their proper dimensional relationships,

reduces weight significantly and helps reduce recoil.

Reading Pressure Signs – Part 2

This article is a continuation of last month’s discussion of pressure signs. We will describe two more (less reliable) primer-related pressure signs, some things to look for on the brass case itself, as well as an important tool you can use to detect unsafe pressure.

Missing Primers

There are two possible causes for missing primers on your spent cases: Loose primer pockets or higher-than-normal pressure. If your brass is from a high-pressure cartridge (like .38 Super or .223/5.56) and it has been reloaded several times, then chances are good that the primer pock-ets have loosened up, and it’s time to retire the cases. If the brass is new or once-fired, a missing primer can be an indicator of over-pressure, and will often be accompanied by additional pressure signs.

The photo above shows a once-fired 9mm case that was loaded to an overall length that was too long for the bullet/chamber combination. The bullet was pressed into the lands when it chambered, resulting in excessive pressure upon firing. In addition to the missing primer, the case features another telltale sign of over-pressure that is described later in this article.

Sooty Ring Around the Primer

Although it is often listed as a pressure sign, this one is probably the least reliable. An obvious sooty discharge emanating outward from around the perimeter of the primer is a sign of gas leakage. More often than not, the leakage is caused by a stretched out primer pocket. The easy way to tell is to decap the case with a universal decapping die. If the primer pops out more easily than on a ‘normal’ case, you’ve found your problem. A universal decapping die should be used instead of the sizing die because it will allow you to better feel the force required to pop out the primer. If you don’t have a universal decapping die, you can use the sizing die for a larger caliber cartridge.

One more thing: I underlined the word ‘obvious’ above because when this condition exists, the leakage is as plain as day and will look much different than a normal spent case. A little bit of crud left in the beveled recess between the primer and the case head is probably a better indicator of a filthy gun than it is gas leakage.

Case Head Extrusion

When a cartridge is fired, the breech face supports the case head. With the exception of break-action and some single shot firearms, the breech face does not totally cover the case head – there’s a cut-out in the breech for the extractor. Excessive pressure can cause brass from the case head to extrude into the extractor recess in the breech, leaving a raised bump on the case head in the shape of the extractor cutout.

If this extrusion does not show up on your factory ‘test’ rounds, but is present on your reloads, it is a very reliable indicator of over-pressure. Keep in mind that all brass is not created equal, and some brass cases (especially Federal) are softer than others. It is not uncommon to see a trace of the extractor recess impressed into the case head of factory Fed-eral rounds, but a prominent extrusion that will catch your thumbnail is always a sign that there is something very wrong.

Bent Rims

Part 1 of this article described the various extraction/ejection problems associated with over-pressure in a semi-auto. Often times, excessive pres-sure will cause the case to over-expand and grip the chamber walls much tighter than normal. When this occurs, the force necessary to extract the spent cartridge from the chamber increases. In addition to causing extraction problems, this increase in force can cause the extractor to bend the rim of the case. A problem with the firearm can also cause bent rims; so you should retest with some factory ammo to rule this out.

The photo above shows a bent rim on some .308 cases caused by excessive pressure. Also note that there is a slight extrusion mark on the case head from the ejector. Neither of these conditions exists when factory ammo is used, so they are good indicators of excessive pressure.

Unusual VelocityThe chronograph is a very useful tool for diagnosing pressure problems. In fact, a chrono can tell you that a pressure problem exists even if the rounds exhibit no visible signs. Before firing your reloads, it’s a good idea to consult several reloading manuals to get a general idea of the velocity to expect. Be sure to take into account the firearm used by the manual’s publisher for testing. For example, if the reloading manual states that the .357 magnum cartridges were tested in a universal (closed breech) re-ceiver and a 10” barrel, you should not expect to match the velocity with your 4” revolver. If you do reach the stated velocity even though you have a shorter barrel and a pressure-relieving cylinder gap, you’re probably running too hot.Use the chronograph to measure the velocity of your rounds as you work up a load. An increase in the powder charge should increase the pressure; and an increase in pressure should cause an increase in velocity. If it does not, it can indicate that some dimension inside the case or the firearm is stretching when the rounds are fired. If you increase the powder charge and do not see an increase in velocity (or worse yet, see a drop in veloc-ity), you should stop immediately and find out what is wrong.

Final ThoughtsAs you’ve probably figured out by now, reading pressure signs is part art, and part science. Many of the conditions described in these articles can be caused by factors other than excessive pressure. You’ve probably also noticed that excessive pressure can often cause more than one of the signs to appear.

Any time you suspect higher than normal pressure, it is prudent to back off and reassess. The rule is, as always: Start low, work your way up, watch for pressure signs, and never exceed the charge weights listed in the manual.Next month’s article will describe the process, tools, and techniques for determining the maximum cartridge overall length for your rifle.

There are multiple pressure signs exhibited on this 9mm case

These .308 cases show severe case head extrusion marks from the extractor recess

The bent rims and deep ejector marks on these cases are a good indicators of excessive pressure

By Jim Finnerty

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