Editing 2006

[[File:US gun deaths 2006.png|right|350px|Click on image to enlarge for a better view]]'''2006''' was one weird year.  

The [[Atchisson Assault Shotgun]] changed specifications and California passed legislation requiring [[Safety_(device)#Magazine_Interlocks|magazine disconnects]] on all new handgun designs sold in the state starting [[January 1]], [[2007]].  Both said it was for safety reasons but couldn't coherently explain beyond that.

Taurus started calling their Model 4510 "[[Taurus Judge|the Judge]]" and [[Ignatius Piazza]] created and began producing the reality television series ''Front Sight Challenge'', airing on the Versus Network.  He also got sued (but not for the show).

In the heat of a federal election, Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin promised a national ban on handguns, and promptly lost the election.  In an odd reversal of the usual, the new [[Canadian]] Government stopped nagging law-abiding gun owners, by granting an amnesty from [[Canadian gun registry|registration]] (now extended until May 16, 2011), while 206 [[gun show]] visitors from Richmond, Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania areas were [[Gun_show#ATF_misconduct|harassed by ATF agents]].  

Down Under, the founder of the [[Shooters Party]] in New South Wales, [[John Tingle]], retired late in the year, having served as an elected member of the upper house of New South Wales parliament - the Legislative Council - since [[1995]]. 

==January==
* The RCMP were asked to probe a Liberal Party of Canada consultant over a $380,000 contract: [[Kim Doran]] was awarded to lobby the federal government for funds for the ailing firearms registry.
* [[January 1]] &mdash; San Francisco became the third major city in the United States with a handgun ban, after Chicago and Washington, D.C., as the most ironically-named law '''EVER''', "[[National_Rifle_Association#San_Francisco.27s_Proposition_H|Proposition H]]" (No, we're not making that up!) came into force, banning the sale, manufacture and distribution of firearms and [[ammunition]] (as well as the possession of [[handguns]]) within city limits.
* [[January 16]] &mdash; An era ended when [[U.S. Repeating Arms]] announced it was closing the New Haven, Connecticut plant where [[Winchester]] rifles and shotguns had been produced for 140 years. Along with the closing of the plant, the Model 94 rifle (the descendant of the original [[Winchester rifle]]), Model 70 rifle and Model 1300 shotgun would be discontinued. 

==March==
* [[March 1]] &mdash; The [[NRA]] filed a motion for contempt against the city of New Orleans, its mayor, and the chief of police for failure to comply with a restraining order, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, barring any further [[Hurricane Katrina|gun confiscations]] and ordering the return of lawfully owned firearms to their owners.
* [[March 15]] &mdash; Lawyers from both sides reached an agreement in the case of ''NRA v. Mayor Ray Nagin'', which was pending before a federal court. The city of New Orleans gave up lying and admitted that it holds a number of confiscated firearms, and the Property and Evidence Division of the New Orleans Police Department is to return the firearms to their owners.  [[National_Rifle_Association#Confiscations_in_New_Orleans|The city has yet to live up to its end of the deal]]...
* [[March 31]] &mdash; The [[Winchester Repeating Arms Company]] officially became defunct as a corporate entity.

==April==
* [[April 14]] &mdash; New Orleans announced that the city will begin to return [[Hurricane Katrina|seized firearms]]. As of early 2008, however, many firearms were still in police possession, and the matter was still in court.
* [[April 25]] &mdash; "[[Mayors Against Illegal Guns]]" is formed during a summit held at Gracie Mansion in New York City, hosted by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. (Later in the year, MAIG Mayor Frank Melton would [[Mayors_Against_Illegal_Guns#Indicted.2C_convicted.2C_and_scandalized_members|plead guilty to firearms charges]] after police raided a crack house and found him armed with a concealed pistol.)

==May==
* [[Canada]]'s new Conservative government announces what will become the perpetual amnesty (currently set to expire on [[May 16]], [[2011]]) for [[rifle]] and [[shotgun]] owners facing prosecution for failing to register their firearms in the national ''[[Farmer Bob varmint gun registry]]''.
* [[May 17]] &mdash; Responsibility for the [[Canadian Firearms Program]] was transferred from the Ministry of Public Safety to the RCMP. 

==June==
* Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco signed the NRA-backed Act 275, forbidding the confiscation of firearms from lawful citizens during declared emergencies. Similar legislation had already been adopted in nine other states.
* [[June 8]] &mdash; Louisiana House Bill 760 was signed into law.  Introduced by legislator Steve Scalise, it prohibits confiscation of firearms in a state of emergency, unless the seizure is pursuant to the investigation of a crime, or if the seizure is necessary to prevent immediate harm to the officer or another individual.
* [[June 12]] &mdash; "Proposition H" (see above) took a dump when a Superior Court Judge agreed with the NRA, saying that California law "implicitly prohibits a city or county from banning gun possession by law-abiding adults".
* [[June 19]] &mdash; [[Bill C-21]], an early attempt by the Conservative Party of Canada to put the [[Canadian gun registry]] out of everyone else's misery, received first reading in the House of Commons.

==August==
* [[August 15]] &mdash; [[Olin Corporation]], owner of the [[Winchester]] trademarks, announced that it had entered into a new license agreement with [[Browning]] to make Winchester brand rifles and shotguns, though not at the closed Winchester plant in New Haven.

==September==
* [[September 13]] &mdash; The [[Dawson College shooting]] in Montreal demonstrates the useless of not only the [[Canadian gun registry]], but of firearm licensing as well, after [[Kimveer Gill]] kills one and injures 19 before committing suicide. 
* [[September 25]] &mdash; [[Jeff Cooper|Lt. Colonel John Dean "Jeff" Cooper]] died peacefully at his home in the afternoon.  He was 86.

==October==
* [[October 2]] – Five school girls are murdered by [[Charles Carl Roberts]] in a [[Amish school shooting|shooting at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania]] before Roberts commits suicide.
* [[October 4]] &mdash; President George W. Bush signed into law the [[NRA]]-backed [[Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006]]. This legislation prohibits the confiscation of otherwise legal firearms from law-abiding citizens during states of emergency by any agent of the Federal Government <u>or anyone receiving Federal funds</u> (effectively, ''any'' Federal, state, or local governmental entity).
* [[October 18]] &mdash; Female homeowner [[Nadine Teter]] shoots a home invader in her backyard.

==November==
* [[MAIG]] Mayor Frank Melton pleaded no contest to three firearms charges: carrying a gun in a park and in a church, and carrying a concealed weapon.
* An 1862 original [[Henry rifle]] sold at auction for US$60,000.  Not bad for a $42 gun.

== December ==
* [[File:Sharon Gregson.jpg|thumb|Gregson is also "the most tattooed elected official in Canada." (whatever that's supposed to mean)]][[December 18]] &mdash; Vancouver, British Columbia school trustee, longtime daycare activist and New Democratic Party (NDP) supporter [[Sharon Gregson]] upsets the Canadian left-wing [[gun control]] apple cart by advocating ''in favour'' of [[CCW]] in Canada; especially for women.  It took less than 24 hours for her former compatriots in the Canadian political left to frantically throw her under the bus.

==The year in pictures==
<gallery perrow=5>
File:CSA-2006-01-12-095303 M249SAW.jpg|[[January 12]]: Providing security for Soldiers and Marines during a presence patrol in Rawah, Iraq.
File:Latvian Army soldier Diwaniyah 2006.jpg|[[March 13]]: A Latvian army soldier mans a checkpoint on Tampa Road in Diwaniyah, Iraq.
File:Marines with Simunitions.jpg|[[June 5]]: Marines get trained in basic infantry tactics in urban environment. 
File:Mk 19 Grenade Belt.jpg|[[June 7]]: Camp Schwab’s range 10.
File:Marine M249 Fire.jpg|[[July 20]]: Live-fire exercise on the machine gun range at Fort A.P. Hill, Va.
File:Marine SAW Gunner.JPG|[[August 7]]: Urban movement drills at a former military housing complex.
File:Slovak vz. 58.jpg|[[Oct. 5]]: A Slovakian army soldier stands guard in front of the Multinational Division-Central South headquarters at Camp Echo, Iraq.
File:Shotgun in training US military.jpg|[[Dec. 23]]: training in Arta, Djibouti.
</gallery>
[[category:Years]]