May 20/history

[more] What else happened today

1706 — American gunsmith and soldier Seth Pomeroy was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. 1772 — English inventor and rocket artillery pioneer Sir William Congreve was born in Kent. 2000 — NRA president Charlton Heston tells Al Gore, "from my cold dead hands" in a speech at the 129th NRA convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. 2004 — Canada: The Liberal government, just days before an expected election call, eliminates fees for registering and transferring firearms. Ottawa says it will also limit its spending on the gun registry to $25 million a year, spending that has averaged $33 million a year and reached as high as $48 million. Licensing of gun owners and firearms will continue. 2005 — Colt Defense LLC completed its acquisition of Diemaco, which now operates as Colt Canada. 2009 — The injunction blocking the implementation of concealed carry within National Park Service lands was overturned by the passing of an amendment to (of all things) the Credit CARD Act of 2009, added by Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK) over the wailing protests of the Brady Campaign.