On Friday, May 1, 2015, the US House of Representatives passed HR 2028, the “Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016,” by a bipartisan vote of 240-177.

This bill is designed to protect the rights of gun owners on lands owned or managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and to help end the patchwork of firearm laws and regulations that govern different federal lands managed by different federal agencies.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program isn’t authorized to sell pistols. US Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), is proposing to change that.

Currently, the Army stores excess M1911A1 pistols, which used to be the standard issue US Armed Forces sidearm, until it was replaced by the Beretta M9 9mm pistol in 1985. Besides the 8,300 pistols that have been sold to law enforcement and transferred to foreign countries for a small price, the rest of the M1911A1 pistols are now being held in storage costing us around $200,000 a year.

So Rogers drafted an amendment allowing the CMP to handle the sale of these vintage firearms. The amendment was included with the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which cleared the House Armed Services Committee on April 29. Only Army-owned firearms are included.

TN Lifetime CCW permits

Tennessee residents at least 21 years old will have the option starting July 1 to pay $500 for a lifetime CCW permit. A criminal background check will be performed every five years and the state Safety Department can suspend or revoke a permit if the person no longer qualifies for the permit. The current fee for a regular permit is $115 for the first five years and $50 for renewals every five years after. A similar bill, signed into law in Louisiana in 2013, likewise allows for a lifetime endorsement at a one-time rate of $500. Neither the Louisiana nor Tennessee permits qualify for exemption from a NICS check for firearm purchases. One of the criteria for such exemption is that the term of the permit not exceed five years.

Simple. Other states should follow suit. Now they just need to automatically issue the lifetime permit, free, to each qualified resident upon his/her 21st birthday.