Chicago & Las Vegas

Donna and I have just returned from Chicago and Las Vegas where we attended CPAC’s
second regional meeting and the Western Conservative Leadership Conference. Since taking
over as ACU Chairman, Al Cardenas has put together a plan that calls for three regional CPAC
conferences a year in addition to the national conference in Washington. So far the plan must be
counted a rousing success.

The first regional CPAC was held in Florida during the primary season and drew some three
thousand people; another 2000 or so attended the Chicago conference over the weekend.and
a similar level of attendance is expected at the third which will be held in Denver on October
14th. At this one, I moderated panels on “Fast & Furious” and on the challenges to the Second
Amendment in the Midwest and the headed to Las Vegas to discuss the same issues.

Back in Maryland the news is that the state is setting up a gun registry for offenders and a gift
certificate-for-gun program. They never go away and they never give up. Maryland and Illinois
are two of the most anti-gun states in the country, but both states are now in court. A Federal
District Court struck down the overly stringent restrictions Maryland imposes on gun owners and
on issuing Concealed Carry permits and Illinois’ policy against any concealed carry, any time is
under court challenge as well.

Meanwhile back in Washington, Congress is getting ready to vote on a Contempt of Congress
resolution that will probably clear committee this week. If Attorney General Holder is found
in contempt for lying to Congress and stonewalling an oversight investigation over “Fast
& Furious,” the scandal will at last receive the attention it has thus far been denied by the
mainstream media.