Cato has also established a webpage to track defensive gun uses.

I did some public records requests for him, and the results were most peculiar. The Rangers said that they had picked up the evidence in their capacity as deputized US Marshals, and couldn't turn it over without the Marshals' Office consent. So I sent a FOIA to the Marshals, and they denied knowing anything about it. I went back to the Rangers, and they said, if I remember, that the US Attorney had control of it. So I made a FOIA to the Executive Office of US Attorneys, and they denied they had any control. At that point the head of Texas DPS, which is over the Rangers, got involved and really blew the thing open.

I researched the Sullivan Act for an amicus brief. Tim Sullivan started it out as a very narrow bill -- it just made unlicensed concealed carry a 3 year felony, rather than a misdemeanor. Then NYC's medical examiner lobbied him to pul all the other provisions in, and he agreed. But when he spoke on the floor, which he hated to do, he only talked about the three year penalty.

Even as first enacted, in 1911, it was nothing like what we see today. It required some dealer paperwork, but not registration. There was no provision forbidding open carry. It applied only to handguns. The permits were "may issue" to the max -- as in a felony could get one, if the judge allowed it. (The only bars were to juveniles and non-citizens_/

"And he began working on gun control. DeConcini said Burke helped draft the Anti-Drug Assault Weapons Limitation Act of 1989. A five-year battle ensued, ending with President Bill Clinton signing the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it a federal offense to possess certain semiautomatic rifles manufactured after the law's passage.

DeConcini said Burke fostered the measure in concert with a key figure in the White House, policy analyst Rahm Emanuel, who years later would become chief of staff for President Obama. Emanuel now is mayor of Chicago.

"Dennis was the one who worked with everyone on the Judiciary Committee to line up these members and votes," DeConcini said. "Dennis had all these pictures of these guns -- the Streetsweepers and the AK-47s. And it passed by one vote. A lot of it was not my eloquence on the bill, it was stuff that Dennis had done."

The law was adopted shortly before Burke left his Senate job for a position in the Clinton White House as a senior policy analyst for law enforcement and drug issues, again working with Emanuel.

According to preserved e-mails, Burke continued handling firearm issues, discussing whether executive orders could be used to extend the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act requirement for background checks.
. . . . . . .
During a news conference in 2010, Burke complained that scores of guns from Arizona were being recovered in Mexico. "We have a huge problem here. We have now become the gun locker of the Mexican drug cartels." What Burke did not mention was that his prosecutors had allegedly instructed ATF agents to let some of those weapons "walk" across the border.

In fact, just one month after Burke's appointment as U.S. attorney was confirmed by the Senate, Operation Fast and Furious was secretly launched in Arizona.
. . . . . .
In an April 2010 e-mail to a colleague, Burke predicted that the operation would have a huge public impact: "It's going to bring a lot of attention to straw purchasers of assault weapons," he wrote. "Some of these weapons bought by these clowns in Arizona have been directly traced to murders of elected officials in Mexico by the cartels, so Katie-bar-the-door when we unveil this baby.""

Via Dave Workman.

UPDATE: I was heavily involved with FOPA's passage, though I did have to miss the House debates. A day or two before the debates, I recall Rep. Volkmer telling me that Hughes was going to offer amendments, I think three. I recall in addition to the full auto one, another put a similar ban on newly-made suppressors; I forget what the third was. Volkmer said that he'd been sounding out the other Members, and one was going to pass, although he wasn't sure which one. (Literally, they were going to pass one and apparently which one didn't matter). The Members had stuck their necks out farther than they wanted to (remember, the House was under Demo control then, and its leadership was VERY antigun), and they were afraid of the backlash, and wanted to be able to tell the media and constituents that they weren't blindly following the gun lobby, why, they'd voted for something anti-gun, too. I said that made little sense, and Volkmer said he agreed, but that the reality.

It wasn't like it is today, and I'm glad to have lived to see it. To give you an idea: it took six months or so to negotiate changes that satisfied the Reagan Administration! Reagan may have given pro-gun speeches, but the Administration would have opposed FOPA if changes weren't made, weakening some provisions. I know, I was there.

They say Starbucks "allows guns and assault weapons to be openly carried in its stores (in 43 states) and concealed and carried in its stores (in 49 states). Starbucks' compliance with the National Rifle Association's Pro-Gun Agenda was exposed in 2010 when members of the "open carry" movement began meeting in popular chains, such as California Pizza Kitchen, Peets, IKEA, Disney and Starbucks openly carrying their handguns and assault rifles. To protect their customers and employees, all of the retail chains—except for Starbucks— banned guns from being carried in their stores."

I generally brew my own, but think I'll have a cup of their fanciest on that day.

UPDATE: the PA Gunblog is pushing for it to be Starbucks Appreciation Day.