2008

MAIG had a pretty crappy year:
- Former Mayor David Della Donna, of Guttenberg, New Jersey was convicted of Federal extortion and mail fraud charges and sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
- Another MAIG Mayor, Larry Langford had a lawsuit filed against him for illegally accepting $156,000 in cash and benefits.
- Former Mayor Will Wynn was convicted of Class C misdemeanor, for a choking assault on a man who had crashed a party.
- (And there's more below...)
The RCMP amalgamated their firearms-related sections, the Canada Firearms Centre and the Firearms Support Services Directorate, into one integrated group, the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP),and celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of its Central Processing Site in Miramichi, New Brunswick. As if that were something to celebrate.
A variant of the FN SCAR was one of four finalist rifles for the Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) competition, and Fabrique Nationale introduced a semi-automatic version of the SCAR modular rifle system, the 16S (Light) and 17S (Heavy), at the end of the year.
FN Herstal announced plans to produce Winchester Model 70 rifles at its plant in Columbia, SC.

January

January 9 — San Francisco's bid to save Proposition H</irony> is lost in a unanimous opinion from the three judge panel in the Court of Appeal.

March 5 — The United States National Research Council released a report that concluded that a national database of ballistic markings is unworkable and that there is not enough scientific evidence that, "every gun leaves microscopic marks on bullets and cartridge cases that are unique to that weapon and remain the same over repeated firings".
March 12 — West Virginia, with a long tradition of "stand your ground" in its case law, finally got around to codifying it as a statute (WV code §55-7-22).

April 1 — The last amendment of the Waffengesetz (the German Weapons Act) comes into force, banning (for the law-abiding) certain kinds of weapons like airsoft-guns, tasers, so-called Anscheinswaffen (dummy-guns) and thrustings with blades longer than 12 cm (4.7 inches).
April 5 — Civil rights activist, NRA honorary life member and actor Charlton Heston passed away at his home in Beverly Hills, California, with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side.
April 21 — Students for Concealed Carry on Campus begins their second Empty Holster Protest.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus now has official chapters at over 215 campuses and members at hundreds of campuses without official chapters, for a total of more than 25,000 members nationwide.

The Canadian government's amnesty for long gun registry compliance was extended until May 2009.

June 12 — H.R. 6257 was introduced by Mark Kirk (R Ill.-10) and sought to re-instate the US Federal Assault Weapons Ban for a period of ten years, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons.
June 26 — In a landmark legal case, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the 30 year-old Washington D.C. gun ban and held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for private use. Let's say that again, just because it sounds so good: The RIGHT belongs to the INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN and NOT to the government!
June 30 — Pasadena TX resident Joe Horn was cleared by a grand jury in the shootings of two burglars whom he had caught in the act of robbing a neighbor's home.

July 21 — Following the Heller decision, the Second Amendment Foundation partnered with Smith & Wesson to announce the creation of a commemorative revolver. The revolver was presented to the six plaintiffs of the case and made available for consumers in the fall.
July 28 — Rep. Mark Kirk's attempt to revive the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" gets sent to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. That's also as far as it ever gets.

Former Mayor (and MAIG stooge) Samuel Rivera, of Passaic, New Jersey was convicted of corruption, influence peddling, and extortion charges and sentenced to 21 months in prison.

September 4 — The Canada Firearms Centre and the Firearms Support Services Directorate of RCMP was merged to create the Canadian Firearms Program.
September 9 — Ohio's Castle Doctrine now extends to vehicles of one's self and immediate family.
Bill C-24, like its predecessor, Bill C-21, died on the order paper.

October 31 The remainder of the Public Agents Firearms Regulations came into force in Canada. Police and other government agencies that use or hold firearms were required to report all firearms in their temporary or permanent possession.

November 4 — Americans elect Barry Obama President. Oops. American gun owners respond with the biggest mass purchase of guns and ammo in the history of any country.
November 13 — The FN SCAR and HK416 were among the weapons displayed to U.S. Army officials during an invitation-only Industry Day. The goal of the Industry Day was to review current carbine technology for any situation prior to writing formal requirements for a future replacement for the M4 Carbine.
November 26 — The first shots are fired in the attacks on Mumbai, India. Indian gun control laws had made it easy for the Pakistan-based terrorists to kill 164 and injure more than 300 legally disarmed victims while police hid from the attackers.

December 1 — MAIG Mayor Larry Langford was arrested by the FBI on a 101-count indictment alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.
December 18 — In the early stages of the McDonald v. Chicago case, the trial court entered judgment in favor of the City of Chicago. The decision was appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and combined with a similar case, NRA v. Chicago.
The Canadian Firearms Program recorded a total of 1,859,501 valid firearm licenses, which was roughly 5.6% of the Canadian population.