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Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation has completed its acquisition of Universal Safety Response, Inc. (USR), a privately held, full-service security systems solutions provider.

Data released by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 968,145 checks in June 2009, up 18.1 percent from the 819,891 reported in June 2008.

As president of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute, a Non-Governmental Organization member of the United Nations, Steve Sanetti addressed the U.N.'s  Open-Ended Working Group last week with the goal of explaining the legitimate uses of firearms and ammunition for sporting purposes and hunting by many millions of law-abiding persons worldwide, and urging that civilian firearms should be beyond the scope of any proposed U.N. consideration of fully automatic military firearms when its deliberations turn to small arms and light weapons as part of an International Arms Trade Treaty.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Twenty-five of the nation's leading gun rights activists wrote Congress to oppose the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ongoing confirmation hearings considering the fitness of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to join the nation's highest court have generated a lot of commentary related to constitutional issues that gun-owners care about. Here's a sampling of law-profession comments about her judicial record as it relates to 2nd Amendment, 1st Amendment, and 4th Amendment issues:

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms blasted the Obama Administration for his shifting support of the 2nd Amendment at the Prince William County Tea Party in Woodbridge, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

With its editorial 'Death and American Guns in Mexico' on June 25, The Times misinformed its readers about a host of topics: federally licensed firearm retailers, the guns they sell, Mexican gun violence and the tracing of guns used in Mexican drug crimes.

The congregating arsenal was all perfectly legal as well as perfectly acceptable to the leaders of New Bethel, an Assemblies of God church in Louisville, Kentucky, that invited people to bring their unloaded guns to this first-ever event.

McCLEAN, Va. -- Officer Nate Mickle and PFC Rich McCampbell of the Baltimore County PD SWAT team took top overall team honors in the 2009 FNH USA--Leupold Long Range Precision Shooting Competition June 1-5.

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Legislation introduced June 22 by veteran anti-gun New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg is designed to expand his gun prohibition agenda under the cloak of national security, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: SWHC), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., today announced financial results for the fiscal year and the fourth fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2009.

Each of the cases now at the Court or on the way focuses focus singly, or mainly, on whether the Second Amendment individual right to have a gun for self-defense at home restricts gun control laws at the state and local government level, not just federal laws. It is an issue the Justices mentioned but did not decide in their rulng last Term in District of Columbia v. Heller, recognizing the new individual right “to keep and bear arms” at least in some private surroundings.