Editing 2008

{{TOC right}}
* [[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]] &mdash; 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 ==
* [[March 5]] &mdash; 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]] &mdash; 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 ==
* [[April 1]] &mdash; 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]] &mdash; 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]] &mdash; [[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.

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

== June ==
[[File:Dick Heller.jpg|right|300px|[[Dick Heller]] outside the U.S. Supreme Court, June 26, 2008]]
* [[June 12]] &mdash; H.R. 6257 was introduced by Mark Kirk (R Ill.-10) and sought to re-instate the [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban#Assault Weapons Ban 2008 bill|US Federal Assault Weapons Ban]] for a period of ten years, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons.
* [[June 26]] &mdash; In a [[DC v. Heller|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]] &mdash; 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 ==
* [[July 21]] &mdash; Following the [[Heller decision]], the [[Second Amendment Foundation]] partnered with [[Smith & Wesson]] to announce the creation of a [[Heller revolver|commemorative revolver]]. The revolver was presented to the six plaintiffs of the case and made available for consumers in the fall.
* [[July 28]] &mdash; 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.

== August ==
* 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 ==
* [[September 4]] &mdash; The [[Canada Firearms Centre]] and the [[Firearms Support Services Directorate]] of RCMP was merged to create the [[Canadian Firearms Program]].
* [[September 9]] &mdash; 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 ==
* [[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 ==
* [[November 4]] &mdash; 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]] &mdash; 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]] &mdash; 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 [[Soldiers and cops|police hid from the attackers]]. 

== December ==
* [[December 1]] &mdash; [[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]] &mdash; 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.

== Year in pictures ==
<gallery>
File:Dick Heller.jpg|[[June 26]]: [[Dick Heller]] outside the U.S. Supreme Court
File:Canadian C9A1 MG.jpg|PPCLI at Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2008.
File:Khyberpassrifles.jpg|[[Khyber Pass copies]] purchased at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
</gallery>

[[category:years]]