03-31-09

Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
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SAF Sues on Behalf of Non-Resident Gun Owners: Gun rights advocates have filed a new lawsuit in D.C. federal court, this time seeking to make it possible for American expats to buy guns when they're back home in the United States. The suit, filed Friday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges a government requirement that forces gun buyers without a federal firearms license to fill out their state of residence on a special transaction form. It also targets a law that bar gun dealers from selling firearms to non-U.S. residents for anything other than hunting or sports purposes. The case is being brought by the Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation, as well as two American citizens living in Canada and England. According to the complaint, the two individual plaintiffs have gun licenses from Arizona and Utah, but say they are unable to buy weapons while in the United States because they do not have a state of residence that they can use to fill out the required forms. They argue that the government's restrictions violate the Second Amendment and Fifth Amendment equal protection rights of U.S. citizens who live abroad…

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/03/gun-lobby-files-new-suit-in-dc-over-federal-restrictions.html

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Attorney General Eric Holder, seeking an injunction against enforcement of a federal law that makes it impossible for American citizens who reside outside the United States to purchase firearms while they are in this country… The lawsuit alleges that Holder, as attorney general, is enforcing unconstitutional laws that prevent citizens like Hodgkins and Dearth from exercising their Second Amendment rights. The complaint also asserts that enforcement of the federal gun laws that prevent such citizens from purchasing firearms when they visit the U.S. violates their right of equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. The plaintiffs are represented by Virginia attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued the Heller case before the U.S. Supreme Court…

http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=290
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Ammunition as Propaganda?: An ammunition manufacturer and a non-profit group are teaming up in a unique venture to help address both the short supply of commercial ammo and the need to alert Americans about the threat of radical Islam. America's Truth Forum announced it is making available through its website .223 Remington (5.56) rounds suitable for all sporting and military-style rifles, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14. "Like gold and silver, ammunition is coming into vogue as an affordable security investment – a multi-purpose asset that not only protects homes from violent attacks and citizens from tyrannical oppression but a tangible one that could be bartered as collateral during the most troubling economic times," says the president of America's Truth Forum, Jeff Epstein… (No mention is made of the manufacturer and the price seems to be about double what I paid the latter part of 2008.)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=93357
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That Mythical 90% Figure: … Which brings us to one "reporter" who does parrot talking points, Matthew Price of BBC News, who "authoritatively" tells his readers: It is estimated that at least 90% of the guns used by the Mexican drug trafficking organisations have come from the US." … I'd like to share with you a bit of testimony, from the Statement of David Ogden, Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice, before the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing entitled "Southern Border Violence: Homeland Security Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Responsibilities", presented March 25, 2009. Just a small bit, really, but a critical one, almost lost in the 20 pages of his statement: "According to ATF's Tracing Center, 90 percent of the firearms about which ATF receives information are traceable to the United States." Read it again, and compare it to what the antis are saying. It's very different, isn't it? …

http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d30-Do-90-of-Mexican-crime-guns-come-from-US
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The Beat Goes On: Ammunition was running out so fast at a gun show late last year in Richmond that one man tried to grab a big can of .223-caliber bullets just as another guy was trying to pay for it. There was an argument. "One guy's coming over his shoulder trying to grab" his can of 500 rounds of ammo, recalled Josh Golden, a gun and ammo dealer who was selling items at the Richmond Gun Show that day on Nov. 15. "They were his, and he was going to let him know that they were his." In November, firearms transactions spiked about 60 percent over November '07 in Virginia, and they're up so far this year, too, according to the number of state police background checks for firearm purchases. Also, dealers in Virginia and elsewhere say ammunition sales are soaring and it is difficult to keep certain items in stock…

http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/state_regional/article/virginians_stock_up_on_guns_ammunition/10070/

Like it or not, gun sales are, well, booming. There are a number of reasons, but the most prevalent is people are afraid the Obama administration, sooner or later, will get around to creating more-restrictive gun ownership laws and taxes. And those are not unfounded fears. So gun owners are stocking up on ammunition, handguns and semiautomatic rifles. Sales are up 50 percent since Barack Obama was elected. And gun-control advocates have taken notice… The two sides have not been able to reach any middle ground and are not likely to do so. Each is entrenched in its views. Gun owners see every new law or regulation as an incursion on their rights. Gun-control advocates see new laws as making us more safe. The decisions will be made in the Congress. And each side will make its arguments. In the meantime, there is nothing to prevent people from legally stocking up on guns and ammunition.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090328/OPINION01/303289980/-1/opinion

Fear has some people turning to guns for protection. "We're on track to selling twice as many as we sold last year," said Andre Chiasson of A-1 Pawn Shop in Seminole Heights. Some people are worried about the recession; others believe a new president will mean bans on weapons. Chiasson's store sold about 600 guns in 2008. During the first three months of this year, customers have bought 300. It's a trend statewide and beyond. Federal and local agencies don't track gun sales. One method of gauging the increase is by looking at new applications for concealed weapons permits. The Tampa Bay area is on pace this year to exceed permit applications from previous years, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services…

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/30/gun-sales-shooting-tampa-bay-area/

Concealed carry licensing is becoming more popular with Oklahoma residents. According to reports from Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), 8,799 self defense act licenses were approved in 2002. Five years later, OSBI issued 18,510 permits in 2008. Females licensed in the state last year numbered 4,237, while 14,273 men obtained their permits. The bureau issued 16,426 permits in 2007, 9,591 in 2006 and 10,450 in 2005. Sergeant Brent Crittenden of Pryor Police Department said he is getting a lot more calls from people interested in obtaining a concealed carry permit. He has been teaching the self-defense class for over five years. Crittenden said last year has been his busiest… Crittenden will be teaching a concealed carry class at Pryor Creek Community Church on Sunday, April 5. Pryor Assistant Police Chief Derek Melton, pastor of Pryor Creek Community Church, said his church wants to open the class to the community. "We want guns in the hands of the right people," he said…

http://www.pryordailytimes.com/local/local_story_089093926.html
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NYC – Shoot a Mugger, Get Sued: This pistol-packing granny, who shot a man she accused of mugging her in her wheelchair, wishes she had finished the job - because now, he's suing her for millions. "I'm a peaceful person. I wish that I had killed him," said Margaret Johnson, 59, whose grandfather, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, once ruled Harlem's underworld and was immortalized in several hit movies. "I didn't think you had to pay to get mugged in New York City," she added. Johnson and her landlord, the Lenox Terrace apartment complex, are being sued for $5 million by Deron Johnson, 48, a man with a lengthy rap sheet. Margaret Johnson, a retired city bus driver who has a dislocated hip and a ruptured disc, said that in September 2006, she was sitting in her motorized wheelchair at Lenox Avenue and 133rd Street when Johnson tried to snatch her purse and gold chain. She pulled out her licensed .357 Magnum and fired a round into his left elbow. Cops grabbed him moments later… (Killing an assailant does not guarantee that his heirs may not sue. That is the purpose of stand-your-ground laws and related laws that block such lawsuits.)

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302009/news/regionalnews/thug_takes_hot_at_gun_granny_161998.htm
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Minnesota Considers Extending Castle Doctrine: …A bill awaiting Minnesota legislative action would legally protect people who use deadly force to defend themselves against criminals. The proposal would rewrite laws regulating the use of deadly force in self-defense, extending protection to cars and businesses. Current law only protects victims while inside the home… If a person enters a home without permission, then "there is a presumption that he is there to do you at least substantial bodily harm," Cornish said. "He ain't there to sell Girl Scout cookies." Sen. Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, said some people get sued by criminals after they defend themselves. Pariseau said this is "not a license to go out and shoot people. We have to enable people to not be placed in a position of legal risk," Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, said. "You shouldn't have to back down," Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said… (This section is about two-thirds of the way down the page.)

http://www.morrissuntribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=16898
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Restaurant-Carry Bill Stalls in Tennessee: The guns-in-saloons bill has stalled in the state House tonight with lawmakers fighting over whether they should set a curfew for customers to surrender their weapons. The sponsor, Rep. Curry Todd, thinks handgun carriers should have to give up their guns at 11 p.m. "The NRA was OK with this," Todd told the House. The House voted 62-29 to add the curfew to the bill. But many Republicans objected even to this restriction on Second Amendment rights, and Rep. Brian Kelsey then offered an amendment to strip the provision. After Todd could muster only 32 votes to table that amendment, he withdrew the bill from the floor. He said he'd try again next Monday…  He claimed his bill would curtail shootings presumably because criminals would quake in fear of all the licensed gunmen ready to spring into action. "I challenge anyone to tell me where they've had a shooting in a restaurant in any state that's passed this law," he said. (Note how a bill that is primarily oriented toward restaurants that serve alcohol has become the "guns-in-saloons bill.")

http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/2009/03/bar_gun_bill_stalls_in_house_i.php
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West Virginia Debates Reciprocity, Confidentiality: A renewed battle over the public's right to access permits to carry concealed weapons is playing out in both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature this week. A vote is planned at mid-week in the Senate on SB378 that is designed basically as a reciprocity pact, one that allows West Virginia and other states to recognize each other's concealed permits when residents travel to and from one another. Attached to that proposal, however, is a controversial provision that says the public has no right to pry into government records through a Freedom of Information Act request to see just who is allowed to pack a hidden firearm in public…

http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_089221857.html
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Urban Coyote Attacks Rise: A coyote ambling into a Chicago sandwich shop or taking up residence in New York's Central Park understandably creates a stir. But even here on the high plains of Colorado, where the animals are part of the landscape and figure prominently in Western lore, people are being taken aback by rising coyote encounters. Thanks to suburban sprawl and a growth in numbers of both people and animals, a rash of coyote encounters has alarmed residents… Since December, four people in the Denver area have been nipped or bitten by coyotes. A fifth told police a coyote lunged at him. State wildlife officers have killed seven coyotes. An eighth was killed by a sharpshooter hired by Greenwood Village, in Denver's southern suburbs. "These are coyotes that were born and raised in the 'hood," said Liza Hunholz, an area manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife…

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/COYOTES_IN_THE_HOOD?SITE=FLPAP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-03-29-15-42-23
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"Gun Control" at Heart of Old West Gunfight: Some might call it ironic that the most notorious, old west gunfight in Lampasas [TX] probably came about, indirectly at least, over an attempt at gun control in the Hill Country town. According to local historian Jeff Jackson, the 1873 shooting in a Lampasas saloon resulted in the death of four state police officers at the hands of the Horrell family and possibly their gang members during a shootout… As a result of pleas from Lampasas city officials, Gov. Edmund J. Davis issued a proclamation prohibiting sidearms in Lampasas County. Jackson said the governor sent state police to town to post the new proclamation in February, but they left soon after. In March, Jackson said, the adjutant general of the state dispatched another company of state police at the request of town officials to arrest men who continued to carry sidearms. But the officers had the deck stacked against them…

http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/3/29/56811
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Rule One, Rule Two Reminder: A man accidently shot his brother in the leg on Interstate 80 Saturday morning. The two Elko, Nev. men, ages 21 and 22, were driving to Salt Lake City for a Jazz basketball game when they started talking about how to take apart the two different models of guns they had with them, said Tooele County Sheriff's deputy Eli Wayman. About 10 a.m., the 22-year-old passenger pulled back the slider [sic] on his Springfield XD 40-caliber pistol without realizing there was a bullet in the chamber, Wayman said. When he released the slider, the gun fired. The shot hit his brother in the calf a few inches below the knee and exited about four inches above the ankle. The man was taken to University of Utah hospital by medical helicopter in stable condition. (Rule One: All guns are always loaded. Rule Two: Don't let the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.)

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12024654?source=email
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From The Firearms Coalition: The Republican Party lost big in 2006 and lost even bigger in 2008.  They didn't lose because of opposition to the war in Iraq.  They didn't lose because of the floundering economy.  They didn't even lose because of a "culture of corruption." Those were symptoms and side issues.  The reason Republicans lost, and continue to lose, is because they have failed to keep their promises, live up to their stated beliefs, and they have provided little reason to their base to get excited about keeping them in office… Republicans sought out support from gunowners, promising to protect the Second Amendment, but in eight years of a nominally pro-gun Republican Administration and six years of a nominally pro-gun Republican Congress, the only pro-gun legislation to get to the President's desk was the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.  Even as an opposition party the Republicans have shown little stomach for a fight.  They didn't even offer token resistance to the appointment of virulent anti-rights extremist Eric Holder as Attorney General - the defender of the Constitution. Thankfully the Democrats have thrown our opposition, the anti-rights movement under the bus - at least for now.  The Democrats still feel the sting from their losses in 1994 after they passed the Clinton "assault weapons" ban.  What they learned from that mistake is that we GunVoters are only dangerous when we're really mad, as we were in 1994.  We as a movement have demonstrated a lack of resolve when there is nothing to really fire us up and make us angry…

http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=365&Itemid=37
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Tangentially Related: Judges should interpret the Constitution according to other nations' legal "norms." Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts. The United States constitutes an "axis of disobedience" along with North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq. Those are the views of the man on track to become one of the US government's top lawyers: Harold Koh. President Obama has nominated Koh - until last week the dean of Yale Law School - to be the State Department's legal adviser. In that job, Koh would forge a wide range of international agreements on issues from trade to arms control, and help represent our country in such places as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. It's a job where you want a strong defender of America's sovereignty. But that's not Koh. He's a fan of "transnational legal process," arguing that the distinctions between US and international law should vanish…

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/obamas_most_perilous_legal_pick_161961.htm
http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2009/03/31/another_day,_another_scary_nomination?page=full

Mexico will cooperate with the United States in sharing intelligence to fight drug trafficking but does not plan joint patrols with U.S. forces, President Felipe Calderon said Monday. "We do have to work together but that does not imply the joint participation in military operations or even a joint participation of law enforcement agents," Calderon said at a press conference during a state visit to London. The Mexican president said forces from both sides of the border should share information to try to stem the flow of illegal drugs and tackle the gangs who supply them. The United States has stepped up security on the border with Mexico after new President Barack Obama put Mexico's drug war high on his agenda… (Gee, with Mexico so concerned about an alleged 90% of the firearms used by its drug cartels coming in from the US, I wonder why they won't participate in what seems like a common-sense measure to me.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090330/ts_nm/us_britain_mexico_usa
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/eu_britain_mexico/2009/03/30/197540.html

03-30-09

From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
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A List Member Responds: In regard to the Investors Business Daily article on Arthur Savage:

There are a couple of errors in the above piece:

1. The rifle Savage introduced in 1893 was the Model 1893.  He refined it and introduced the Model 1899 six years later.

2. The .303 Savage is a completely different round than the .303 British, and uses standard .308 bullets, rather than the .312 bullets of the .303 Brit.

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Clinton Fails to Gain Traction with "AWB": Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now the second member of President Obama's cabinet to get shot down by the White House over the politically sensitive issue of assault weapons. After meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderón, Clinton said that reinstating the U.S. ban on assault weapons - which was passed in 1994 and expired in 2004 - is one step this country could take to curb the flow of guns to Mexico's drug cartels. "These military-style weapons don't belong on anybody's street," Clinton told NBC. Within hours, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that he was unaware of "any plans" to push for such a ban - even though Obama had backed one during last year's campaign… NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told NEWSWEEK that Hill Democrats have "learned their lesson" from 1994, when they enacted the ban and subsequently lost control of Congress. They've also learned that cozying up to the NRA can pay big dividends. Last year Democrats received 20 percent of the nearly $1.2 million that the NRA pumped into congressional campaign coffers - more than twice what it gave to Dems just six years earlier. The way things are going, this could be more than a shotgun wedding.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/191414

Related Commentary: It's as if the feds finally woke up and said, "Hey, we have ourselves a violence problem on the southern border." For years, border states have been begging the federal government for help in the form of money, equipment and "boots on the ground" to help secure the border and prevent violence from spilling over into the United States… While it's good to have more agents trying to interdict the southward flow of weapons into Mexico, the knee-jerk response of tightening gun control must be avoided. Instituting more inspections on the U.S. side of vehicles going into Mexico is a good idea. Catch the guns and money before they get south of the border and into the hands of drug cartels. What must not happen is having the violence in Mexico dictate the imposition of draconian gun-control measures in the United States. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, an avowed foe of gun ownership, has suggested resurrecting a ban on certain semiautomatic weapons. The 1994 ban was over in 10 years. And Obama has indicated some interest in ratcheting up restrictions on guns. Fortunately, Holder and his ilk can't seem to arouse much interest in Congress in dredging up another gun ban…

http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_12020796
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NRA-Democrat Alliance?: When Democrats acted last month to give the District of Columbia long-denied voting rights in Congress, the powerful gun lobby saw a target too good not to take a shot at. The National Rifle Association's lobbyists made it clear to lawmakers that they believed the bill should include a measure to overturn the capital's gun control laws. Left mostly unsaid, but well understood by all 535 members of the House and Senate, was that failure to do so would unleash a barrage of political pain on resisters. The result showed the strong sway the NRA has even over a Congress dominated by liberal Democrats who mostly disagree with the organization's positions. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to add the gun-rights proposal. House Democratic leaders, fearing a tough vote on the issue, swiftly scrapped plans to consider the D.C. voting legislation…

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/194/story/631522.html
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Montana Democrats Support RKBA: Two Montana Democrats are leading the charge against gun control - even helping force the military to continue selling surplus brass to gun aficionados who want cheaper ammunition. U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are not simply placating gun advocates with a vague promise to vote against gun control in Congress. They are forcing former political foes to recognize that Democrats could be their strongest allies while the party controls Washington D.C. It's creating uncertain bedfellows on an issue that wins or loses races in places like Montana. The pair have been taking the lead on issues that only the most ardent gun rights advocates were talking about. Just last week they joined Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana to pressure the Defense Department in a move that is credited with overturning a short-lived brass ban…

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090329/NEWS01/90329001
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The Beat Goes On: Concern that the Obama administration could impose a new ban on some semiautomatic weapons is driving worried gun owners to stockpile ammunition and cartridge reloading components at such a rate that manufacturers can't meet demand… "We have heard from all across the country that there is a tremendous shortage of ammunition," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. "We've heard this from the manufacturers, that their customers are calling them trying to get supplies for inventory, and that the manufacturers are going full-bore, pardon the pun." …He said the current ammunition shortage followed the increase in gun sales. While the current shortage includes cartridges for popular semiautomatic rifles and pistols that were covered by the Clinton-era weapons ban, it also extends to other common varieties including common revolver cartridges and .22 rimfire cartridges used for hunting or target shooting… "You know there's something wrong when I've got little old ladies coming in buying 5,000 rounds of .22 shells," Holtz said…

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hHN8azPdktiyq5rfkevDE2rauhnwD977SAKG0
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Massachusetts Gun-Storage Law Unconstitutional: After a police officer's 12-year-old son got access to the officer's handgun, the officer was prosecuted for violating Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 140, § 131L… Last month, the court held the statute was unconstitutional (Commonwealth v. Bolduc), and dismissed the prosecution. I only just now managed to get a copy of the opinion, and here's the relevant discussion: The locking mechanisms [required by the statute] are the functional equivalent of those enumerated in the D.C. statute struck down in Heller. In Heller, the Court held that the Second Amendment not only protects an individual's right to possess firearms but that the right requires that the firearms be available for "the purpose of immediate self-defense." The Massachusetts statute mandating lock boxes or similar devices would frustrate an owner's ability to immediately access an operable weapon… Interestingly, the court seemed to assume that the Second Amendment applies to state laws - what lawyers call the "incorporation" issue - which is something Heller pointedly declined to resolve.

http://volokh.com/posts/1238111035.shtml
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Texas Campus-Carry Bill Gets Hearing Today: …Today, Woods is among the leaders in a fight against bills in the Texas Legislature that would allow licensed concealed gun carriers to take their weapons to school. A public hearing is set for Monday in the House Public Safety Committee on one bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Driver, a Garland Republican… Supporters say the bills would protect the rights of those licensed to carry concealed weapons and help prevent a massacre on the scale of what happened at Virginia Tech and another shooting last year at Northern Illinois University, where five were killed and 18 wounded. Texas issued 73,090 licenses in fiscal year 2008. The state requires applicants to pass a training course, pass a criminal background check and be at least 21 years old. Texas campuses are gun-free zones… Texas is one of seven states currently considering legislation. "We hope Texas will serve as a leader and have a domino effect," Kasprzak said…

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090329/D977QL6G1.html
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Parking-Lot-Storage Bill Advances in Texas: Last week the Texas Senate unanimously passed a bill that would allow Texans to take their guns and ammunition to work as long as they leave the weapons in their car - even if their bosses object. "Here in Texas people like their firearms," Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, the author of the bill, said. "If they want to bring them to the workplace they are going to do it whether there is a policy or not." Although Hegar's bill is now in the House where it faces more scrutiny, it is not the only gun-related legislation in the 81st Legislature. There are several other gun-related bills this session, including one that would allow Texans with concealed weapon licenses to carry their firearms on college campuses and another that would exempt the purchase of guns, rifles, shotguns and ammunition from the state sales tax if the items are bought the last weekend of August, both filed by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio…

http://lubbockonline.com/stories/033009/loc_416184813.shtml
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Alabama Weighs Parking-Lot-Storage Bills: Alabama employers could one day find that their employees are bringing more than lunch and briefcases to work each day. They could be bringing a gun, and under a bill moving through the Alabama Legislature there might be very little an employer can do to stop them. Democratic lawmakers in the House and the Senate are sponsoring bills that would prohibit employers from establishing policies or rules that stop gun permit holders from keeping a gun locked in their car while they're at work. Backed by the National Rifle Association, the bills would make it a Class A misdemeanor if an employer establishes, maintains or enforces such a policy. The NRA has been successful in getting similar legislation passed in nearly 10 states. Both the House and Senate versions have cleared committees in each chamber and await full debate…

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20090329/NEWS0201/903290315/1009
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Kansas RKBA Referendum Approved: Next year, Kansans will vote whether to change the state constitution to guarantee individual gun rights. "It is the law of the land today in every state. They (supporters) would like to make sure it stays that way in Kansas," said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican. Supporters of a resolution that passed the House and Senate say the move is needed in case the U.S. Supreme Court ever decides that the Second Amendment does not protect individual gun ownership. In 2008, the court ruled that the Bill of Rights covers an individual's right to own firearms. Before that Supreme Court decision, some lower courts had ruled that the intent of the Second Amendment was to tie the right of gun possession to militia service, such as a state National Guard unit, rather than an individual's right to own a gun…

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1113251.html
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Plea Deal Considered in Burris Case: A plea deal is being seriously considered in the gun possession case against Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants' wide receiver, and it appears likely that any agreement would require him to serve at least some time behind bars, a law enforcement official said on Sunday… Mr. Burress, 31, who caught the winning touchdown in the Giants' Super Bowl victory in February 2008, turned himself in to the police on Dec. 1, nearly three days after he accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed handgun at a nightclub in Manhattan. Mr. Burress was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 ½ years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors commonly offer reduced charges in gun possession cases, taking into consideration things like a defendant's criminal history, the reason for carrying the gun and the circumstances surrounding an arrest…

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/nyregion/30plaxico.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
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Open Carry in Washington State: A gathering of residents in the Willow Lake Apartments of SeaTac, the south King County community where some citizens have evidently "had enough" of criminal activity is nothing to be alarmed about. They met for an informal gathering on March 28 to discuss crime problems in their neighborhood.    Most of the people who attended this event were openly carrying sidearms. That's legal, it is protected by the state constitution and a couple of state appeals court rulings, State v. Spencer and State v. Gregory Casad. Organized by James Beal, a member of the internet forum OpenCarry.org, the event attracted the attention of KING5 News and KIRO Eyewitness News…

http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d29-SeaTac-open-carry-gathering-sends-signal-to-criminals
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Oops, Wrong Store: A man allegedly attempting to rob a northwest Harris County [TX] cell phone store died after he was shot by the business owner and then hit by a car as he attempted to flee, authorities said. Deputies answered a call around 6:15 p.m. Saturday at a cell phone store in the 5200 block of Barker Cypress, where they learned that two armed men dressed in black allegedly attempted to rob it, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. John Legg. The store owner produced his own handgun and the alleged robbers fled the business, Legg said. As the men ran into the parking lot, the store owner chased them. One of the men fled the scene in a 90s model red Ford Taurus, while the other man stopped and turned toward the store owner, Legg said. "At that time, the owner of the store fired several shots towards the suspect, hitting him once," Legg said…

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6348060.html
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Controversial Shooting in Canada: Sometimes in farming country, in the fields between Bashaw and Clive, many things worth stealing are the things outdoors. Pickup trucks, snowmobiles, 4X4s and tractors - on a farm, that's capital; hard-earned cash. And if someone tries to steal them, some people say, farmers have a right to stop them, any way they can. That's not a view shared by the RCMP. On Friday, police charged a Clive-area farmer accused of what might be described as an alleged vigorous defence of his property. Brian Knight, 38, chased a 4X4 thief off his land, rammed him into a ditch, then shot him as he tried to run, RCMP allege. He then gathered a posse to track the wounded man and bring him in before calling police, they allege. Knight is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, assault and dangerous driving…

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/would+have+shot/1439057/story.html
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Second Amendment – the Video: This is a good review and may be of particular value to share with those who may not yet grasp the concept of the RKBA.

http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/play.php?id=693
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NRA-ILA Alerts: List members are encouraged to check the alerts for the past week, posted on the NRA-ILA website.

http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx

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03-27-09

From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info

comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
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Is Heller Insignificant?: Has the Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller – which affirmed the Second Amendment and declared the D.C. handgun ban unconstitutional–been of almost no significance? So claimed the New York Times in a recent article by Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak. Unfortunately, Liptak's article followed in a long New York Times tradition of credulously reporting the claims of one anti-gun professor, without conducting sufficient research to see if the claims hold up. Let's start with the most obvious facts which the Times overlooked. On the day that Heller was decided, the citizens of five Chicago suburbs, and of Chicago itself, were prohibited from owning guns. Residents of apartments provided by the San Francisco Housing Authority were prohibited from owning any gun. Within 24 hours of the Heller decision, gun rights organizations - including the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) - filed lawsuits against the gun bans. Today, the residents of San Francisco public housing can own guns in their homes. In four of the five Chicago suburbs (Morton Grove, Evanston, Wilmette, and Winnetka), the handgun bans have been repealed. Yet according to the Times, "So far, Heller is firing blanks." …

http://newledger.com/2009/03/gun-rights-and-the-constitution-was-heller-insignificant/
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Don't Blame RKBA for Mexico's Drug Wars: Here's a summary for the time- or attention-challenged: Never surrender freedom for laws that can't affect criminals; they disobey laws for a living. Nobody is surprised that Attorney General Eric Holder wants to make good on his promise to ban guns. We just didn't know whose tragedy he'd seize to advance his agenda. Now we do. It's the drug-driven death and violence in Mexico at the hands of ruthless criminal cartels. Barely a month on the job, Holder cited the Mexican cartel killings as the excuse to resurrect the Clinton gun ban. Though a new face to some, Holder is a rabid Second Amendment foe from the Clinton administration who helped orchestrate the 1994 Clinton gun ban. America has made this mistake already. So let's learn the lies that led to their gun ban…

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/03/26/lapierre.guns.mexico/

Will War on Drugs Become War on Guns?: The state, Mexican authorities and their US propaganda arm, known in most circles as the Mainstream Media, have recently embarked on a huge disinformation campaign to demonize the American gun owner as the supplier of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels. Everyone in the media, with the possible exception of Lou Dobbs, has joined in the campaign of lies. Shown here, on a CBS special, is video proof of the lies and disinformation by CBS, US and Mexican authorities. Anderson Cooper and Janet Napolitano are either ignorant or complicit in the myth that M-203s, RPGs and hand grenades are readily available to the American gun consumer. Most intelligent folks, and those without a state sponsored agenda, realize these weapons are usually only available to the military… The fact is: the Mexican authorities have refused to release the serial numbers of weapons confiscated from drug cartel members. Releasing the serial numbers would implicate the corrupt governments of the US and Mexico and their involvement in arming the drug cartels…

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy54.html

Holder Reined In: After fierce resistance from the gun lobby and its allies in Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder has dialed back talk about reimposing a federal assault weapons ban to help curb the spiraling violence in Mexico… Speaking at a Feb. 25 news conference announcing a roundup of Mexican cartel members in the United States, Holder endorsed reinstituting the ban on assault weapons - a position that President Obama himself supported during last year's campaign. A federal ban on high-powered, semi-automatic assault weapons, originally passed by Congress in 1994, expired five years ago… When Holder was asked about the assault weapons issue again at another press conference on March 25, he steered away from even mentioning a new weapons ban. "Well, I mean, I think what we're going to do is try to, obviously, enforce the laws that we have on the books," Holder said, adding that he planned to discuss the flow of illegal arms with "our Mexican counterparts" during an upcoming trip to Mexico…

http://www.newsweek.com/id/191037
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Black Man with a Gun: "Law enforcement trainer, author, and grassroots activist of color" (and not to forget, a pastor), Kenn Blanchard has been a voice of reason in the Second Amendment movement since the early Nineties. His book, "Black Man with a Gun," was written "to provide people in the African American Diaspora a resource to learn about gun safety and personal responsibility from one of their own." A founder of the Tenth Cavalry Gun Club, "derived from the famous 9th and 10th Army Horse Cavalry's, better known for their Native American given name 'Buffalo Soldiers,'" Blanchard has also started The Urban Shooter Association to promote and support his weekly podcast. I approached Pastor Kenn and asked if he'd like to do an online interview, and was very happy to receive the following reply…

http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d26-Black-man-with-a-gun-interview-with-Kenn-Blanchard
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NPS Backs away from Lead Ban: The National Park Service has stepped back from a plan it announced earlier this month to ban lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle by 2010, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The proposed lead ban triggered a fierce counterattack by gun groups that has put into doubt the pledge to eliminate lead ammunition from the park system by 2010. On March 4, 2009, Acting National Park Service (NPS) Director Daniel Wenk sent out an internal directive that the agency would outlaw the use of lead in firearms, fishing and hunting by "December 31, 2010 or sooner." Wenk wrote that he had issued instructions that a "Special Regulation" be drafted "prohibiting the use of lead in hunting and fishing activities for those parks that authorize such activities". Hunting is permitted in 60 NPS units and fishing in widely allowed throughout the national park system. Reaction from hunting groups after the lead ban was publicly announced was immediate and sharp. For example, National Rifle Association chief lobbyist Chris Cox said on March 12th…

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/26-1
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Background on Kansas RKBA Amendment: A proposed state constitutional amendment favored by gun rights advocates Tuesday targets a century-old court case originating out of Salina. The Kansas Senate voted 39-1 in favor of a resolution that would clarify that individuals have a right to keep and bear firearms under the Kansas Constitution. The House is scheduled to debate the proposal today. Should that chamber also pass the proposed amendment with at least a two-thirds majority, a simple majority of Kansas voters could approve the change in the November 2010 general election. The proposal springs from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that determined that the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to gun ownership. The decision came in a case where the court overturned a Washington, D.C. ban on handguns. But state Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, said gun rights advocates soon learned that the Kansas Supreme Court had a 1905 ruling on the books conflicting with that decision… (I had been wondering if the 1905 date was correct and it appears to be – the summary seems to bolster the dictum that bad cases make bad law.)

http://www.ottawaherald.com/story/032509gunrights
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Illinois House Rejects Private-Party-Sale Ban: For the second time in a year, an attempt to toughen state gun laws fell short of passage in the Illinois House. The proposal, which failed on a 55-60 vote Wednesday, aims to close the so-called private-sale loophole. Under state law, people buying firearms from private sellers at gun shows must undergo a background check. But, other private handgun sales are not subject to background checks. Supporters say current law allows guns to get into the hands of criminals who would otherwise not be able to buy firearms. "We're not trying to penalize responsible gun owners," said state Rep. Deborah Graham, D-Chicago. A majority of lawmakers, however, doubted additional gun laws would stop the violence… Downstate lawmakers argued that Chicago-area lawmakers are trying to impose stricter gun laws on the rest of the state when the problems of gun violence are primarily limited to within the state's largest city…

http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2009/03/25/breaking_news/doc49cad30fcc13c264567385.txt
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Former Sheriff Supports Illinois CCW: During my 23-year law enforcement career, I have developed a good sense of the character and nature of the people who commit violent crimes. With very few exceptions, the perpetrator is not the father who is taking his children to a ballgame. It is not the mother walking into a dark parking lot after a long shift at work. It is not the college student walking home after a study session with friends. Sadly, these persons are often the defenseless victims of violent crimes. In Illinois, it is the "solid citizen" who is precluded from possessing the tool that he or she needs for self and family protection - a firearm. While many Illinois lawmakers and law enforcement administrators scoff at the notion that honest, hard-working citizens should be granted their constitutional right to protect themselves and their families, this misguided and dangerous attitude serves only to empower and embolden the violent thug…

http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2009/03/25/opinions/guest_columns/28803699.txt
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South Dakota Drops Waiting Period: Gov. Mike Rounds has signed a bill that eliminates South Dakota's post-purchase 48-hour waiting period to buy a handgun. The House passed the bill 67-1 on Tuesday. The Senate had passed it unanimously in January. A federal law requires an instant computer check of gun buyers through the FBI. Currently, only those with a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon in South Dakota are exempt from the waiting period. The new law will mean that anyone who wants to buy a handgun and passes the federal check can walk out of a licensed dealer's shop with the weapon. Handgun owner Matt Johnson of Viborg says he has no problem with the law change.

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/03/26/news/legislature/2008_stories/doc49bbec9832112709497505.txt
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Arkansas Governor Opposes CCW Confidentiality: HB1623 The Concealed Carry Privacy bill had a partial hearing today. If you followed us on Twitter you know that the hearing abruptly ended because the full Senate was about to convene. The bill will be reconsidered Tuesday the 31st. We feel good about the bill in the committee but David Bailey, Managing Editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and member of the Arkansas Press Association (APA) wasted no time in hyping the supposed "dangers" of the bill. I guess he doesn't consider violating the privacy of an undercover police officer "dangerous." He mostly brought up issues centered around people who applied for CHL's in our state and been denied a permit. Which actually makes our case for us that, the system works. They claim that they should have access to the information as a matter of a check against the government. But then we distributed the original blog post that Max wrote which contained the permit list and it pretty much dashed the idea that it was done in an ethical, journalistic manner. When committee members saw the blog posting, their reaction seemed to be one of amazement. The latest development is that Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe finally picked a side, I am sad to say that it was not the side of law abiding gun owners…

http://www.arkansascca.org/blog/?content=detail&id=328
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Palin Names NRA Director as AG: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has picked an Anchorage lawyer and National Rifle Association director as the state's new attorney general. Palin named Wayne Anthony Ross to the post on Thursday. Ross twice sought the Republican nomination for governor. He is a former NRA vice president and current director. Ross replaces Talis Colberg, who resigned Feb. 10 amid what Palin called a "harsh political climate." …

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/alaska_attorney_general/2009/03/26/196561.html
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Arkansas Instructor Profiled: The decision to exercise one's Constitutional right and seek a concealed-carry license for selfdefense purposes in the state of Arkansas is a serious one, and certified instructors like Todd Brakeville of Siloam Springs do their best to ensure that license applicants know the laws pertaining to concealed carry and are safe when they do so. Though some law enforcement officers and agencies frown on licensing private citizens to carry a concealed handgun to defend themselves, Brakeville, a certified NRA firearms instructor and a certified law-enforcement firearms instructor, supports the idea…

http://www.nwanews.com/hl/News/27239/
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Firearm Ownership Keeps Getting Safer: The United Sportsmen of Florida have compiled two fact sheets that provide a wealth of insight into the safety of gun ownership, hunting and shooting. Citing data sources including the National Center for Health Statistics, the National Safety Council, the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and firearms industry reports, the 2009 Fact Sheet on Firearms Accidents proves that despite a doubling of our country's population since 1930, and a quintupling in the number of privately owned firearms, the annual number of accidental firearms deaths has decreased 75%. In fact, the fatal firearm accident rate has decreased 92% since the all-time high recorded in 1904…

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6597

AK bullpup optics

you need this for height
http://www.ultimak.com/ARMS-5.htm

and this in place of the gas tube
http://www.ultimak.com/M1-b.htm

and you can end up with this
http://www.ultimak.com/pic10.htm

03-26-09

From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in ()from Stephen P. Wenger

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So Far, So Good: Members of Congress may be alarmed by the surge in Mexican drug violence and its potential to spill across the border, but when talk turns to gun control, opposition from both Democrats and Republicans grows fierce. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. found that out when he proposed reinstituting a U.S. ban on the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons. Many lawmakers balked. The 1994 ban expired after 10 years. "The Second Amendment Task Force opposes the discussed ban and will fight any attempts that infringe on our Second Amendment rights," said Rep. Paul Broun, Georgia Republican, a chairman of the group. Six Democrats and six Republicans co-signed his statement… Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the administration's plan would be inadequate if it did not enact new gun restrictions…

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/26/gun-bans-off-limits-in-drug-war/

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has stated that the Obama administration would like to resurrect the Clinton ban on semi-automatic firearms, as well as other gun control laws. One of the reasons for bringing back these unpopular laws, according to Holder, is that Mexican drug cartels are becoming increasingly violent and warring with Mexican government troops. Holder says that some of the guns being used by the Mexican drug mafia are being obtained illegally from the United States… However, according to a recent poll conducted by The O'Leary Report and Zogby International, a vast majority of the American voting public disagrees… Sixty-five percent of voters say that the international black market is the main source for Mexican drug cartel arms; while only 13.5 percent think these arms are coming from U.S. gun stores (3.5 percent think the arms are coming from somewhere else and 18 percent are not sure). Among voters aged 18-29 years old, one of President Obama's strongest groups of supporters, 73 percent say international black market, and just six percent say U.S. gun stores (two percent say somewhere else and 19 percent are not sure)…

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/zogbyoleary-report-poll-finds-majority-american-voters-dont-fault-gun-laws/

Related Article:

http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=10064239
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So What If They're "Weapons of War": On Monday, I wrote "'Assault weapons' bans depend on lies," taking a (far from comprehensive) look at the distortions employed by the forcible citizen disarmament lobby - ranging from exploitation of public ignorance about firearms, to outright lies - in support of their position that so-called "assault weapons" are "weapons of war," and are thus unsuitable for possession by the general public. That article drew a bit of (gentle) criticism, from readers who thought I ceded too much to the gun prohibitionist crowd, because I responded to the lesser of the problems with the assertion that such firearms should be restricted.  Here's an example…

http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d25-So-what-if-they-are-weapons-of-war
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Those Who Cannot Remember the Past…: Seventeen Jewish organizations are among 32 faith-based groups which have signed a letter to Congress opposing "in the strongest terms" any amendment to the Washington, D.C. voting rights bill that would "undermine the District's ability to regulate firearms." The letter, organized by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, states that "we believe duly-elected District officials should have a fair and reasonable opportunity to develop and implement new locally specific regulations. It would be unconscionable of the House of Representatives to approve such an amendment and impose its will on the residents of the District of Columbia." Many of the same groups - which include the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Commitee and Hadassah, among others - signed an almost identical letter to the Senate last month, which attached an amendement to the final legislation repealing most of D.C.'s gun control laws. A House vote on the bill, which would give one vote in the House of Representatives to the nation's capital along with another one to Utah, could come as soon as next week. Here's the letter…

http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/03/25/1003994/dont-link-gun-laws-to-dc-congressional-vote-say-jewish-groups
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NRA Sues DC: The National Rifle Association filed a second amended complaint in Dick Anthony Heller et al v. District of Columbia in U.S. District Court. NRA and other plaintiffs are asking the court to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent the D.C. Council from implementing laws that violate the Second Amendment and from enforcing its prohibitions on the possession of commonly owned firearms. Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist, said, "It's time to fully restore the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding residents in the District of Columbia. The D.C. Council's latest gun registration scheme is proof of D.C.'s continued contempt for the Supreme Court." …The current D.C. law is more stringent than California's draconian gun laws and bans many firearms commonly owned and used for self-defense. Failure to satisfy these onerous requirements can result in fines of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison. (While the NRA joined in the Heller litigation, it actually opposed the original suit, Parker et al. v. D.C.)

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/news-nra-files-2nd-amendment-complaint-in-heller-v-dc-gun-case
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Texas Senate Approves Parking-Lot-Storage Bill: Texans who love guns and pickup trucks with equal fervor could soon have the right to keep them together all the way into the company parking garage. The Texas Senate gave unanimous approval to legislation Wednesday that would allow people to carry firearms to work and then store them in their parked vehicles outside. Businesses could still keep guns out of their offices and company-owned vehicles. But the bill, a top priority of the National Rifle Association, would no longer let employers ban guns in company parking facilities - as long as they remain locked up inside an employee's vehicle…

http://townhall.com/news/us/2009/03/26/bill_allows_texans_to_keep_guns_in_cars_at_work
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6341952.html
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Anti-Confiscation Bill Passes Idaho House: Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, today persuaded the Idaho House to vote 61-9 in favor of his legislation that would prevent the government from seizing guns in cases of "extreme emergency." HB 229 declares that during a such states including martial law, invasion or insurrection, "No government authority will have the right to come and pick up our arms and ammunition." Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, spoke against the bill, saying no one ever expects to see an invasion or a declaration by the governor of martial law, but no one expected to see planes crashing into the World Trade Center either. "We're meddling here with one of the most fundamental and necessary powers, and I think we need to be very careful how we do that," he told the House. Nielsen responded, "I don't see where we're limiting the governor at all. In fact, I think it even helps him to know that he's got the public out there in helping him to maintain law and order." The bill passed, and now heads to the Senate.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/mar/24/martial-law-gun-rights-bill-passes-idaho-house/
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Church-Carry Bill Dies in Arkansas Senate: Thanks to Sen Wilkins of Pine Bluff, HB 1237 The bill that would remove churches from the list of prohibited places in the concealed carry statute, died in the Senate Committee on Judiciary on a 4-2 vote. After the bill failed in committee last time, the bill was amended. Instead of the version we believe was most appropriate, which would remove churches from the list altogether, it would have now included churches on the list of prohibited places but allow churches to allow CHL holders to carry on their property if they chose to. This was done over a concern that churches would have been required to place a sign at every entrance proclaiming, "the carrying of hanguns is prohibited." Then there was the Church shooting in Illinois. After this Senator Wilkins made the remark that he honestly didn't know how he felt about it and that he could change his mind…

http://www.arkansascca.org/blog/index.php?content=detail&id=322
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California City Delays Ammo Vote: A [Long Beach] City Council vote on a proposed gun ammunition registration law is being postponed, police officials said Monday. The issue had been placed on the agenda for today's meeting, but is being pulled because unanswered questions remain, said Deputy Chief Bill Blair. He said community members had asked a slew of questions about the law during the Public Safety Committee hearing last month, but that he was still waiting on some answers from the City Attorney's Office. Still, Blair said he doesn't expect changes to be made to the law, which is designed to deter felons from buying ammunition…

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_11981695
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California Sheriff Revoking CWP's: Several major GOP power brokers with ties to convicted former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona are about to lose their concealed weapons permits under an order by the new sheriff. Those who have received notices of revocation from Sheriff Sandra Hutchens include Michael Schroeder, chief political and legal advisor to Carona and a former chairman of the state Republican Party; Adam Probolsky, a GOP pollster; and Stephen Mensinger, a political ally of Carona and business executive for major GOP benefactor and developer George Argyros, public records show. Schroeder, for one, is fighting back. He said his attorney on Wednesday sent a letter to Sheriff's Capt. Dave Nighswonger alleging that Hutchens' "abrupt and inappropriate attempt to strip the license violates Mr. Schroeder's rights." The letter alleges that Hutchens is not following penal code requirements for revoking permits. Schroeder said he believes he eventually will file a lawsuit…

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-concealed-weapons-permits-2009mar26,0,298042.story

Right now, Sheriff's and Police Chiefs have the final say about who can carry a gun...but a bill now in the State Assembly, would change that. Some people believe changing the law would promote the right to bear arms but others feel it just opens Pandora's box. Currently it takes a special permit and the approval of your local Sheriff's Department for someone to be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Certified firearms instructor, Ron Etchells, teaches the concealed carried training class and says the classes start with "The basics, with just fire arm manipulation. Knowing all the parts and different ammunition's cross referencing ammunition's as well and approximately right down to four hours of live fire." …

http://www.fox40.com/pages/landing_local_headlines/?Concealed-Weapons-Permits-Bill-Proposed=1&blockID=247529&fee
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NSSF Offers Training in L.A. Area: Gun ownership is on the rise, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and gun sales in California and elsewhere in the United States rose before the Obama administration took over. Are you among the newly armed? If so, you might consider attending any of a series of "First Shots" live-fire safety and training courses being offered Saturday at  Angeles Shooting Ranges in Lake View Terrace, and Burro Canyon Shooting Park in Azusa. The events, sponsored by the NSSF, are scheduled for 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Angeles, and at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Burro. An additional course is scheduled at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Orange County Indoor Shooting Range in Brea. Participants will learn about proper shooting techniques, safe handling and storage, but also about gun laws and how to go about purchasing handguns…

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/03/have-you-recent.html
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Oops, Wrong House: A would-be thief ended up in the hospital with a gunshot wound after a failed robbery attempt in Mt. Auburn overnight. Police say the would-be robber, 20-year-old Anthony Walker of Corryville, approached two men at a home in the 120 block of Malvern Place and threatened them with a gun. One of the men, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, reportedly shot Walker during the altercation. Both of the intended victims then drove to the Cincinnati Police District One station and reported the incident. Rescue crews transported Walker to University Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to the chest.  He is now facing charges of aggravated robbery.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Would-Be-Robber-Ends-Up-As-Shooting-Victim/wARMg2W2PECgzXU6tMKyIg.cspx
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Rule Five Reminder: Orlando Police Chief Val Demings took full responsibility for the theft of her gun as new details emerged Wednesday. The pistol disappeared a month but did not become public until late Tuesday when a tipster contacted the Orlando Sentinel. Demings held a press conference at noon Wednesday to talk about what happened and that a policy that allows cops to leave their guns in cars overnight will be reviewed… When her gun disappeared on the night of Feb. 27, Demings did not discover it was missing until the next afternoon, according to a car burglary report she filed with the sheriff's office. At that time, Demings told deputies she noticed a black duffel bag holding her gun belt, pistol, three magazines holding 45 bullets, handcuffs and nightstick was missing from her city-issued Chevrolet Tahoe SUV. Thinking she must have left the canvas bag in her office, she drove to police headquarters in Orlando without finding the missing weapon." … (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm. This incident occurred because the chief errs in dividing her time between "safe" and "dangerous" time and does not appear to believe she actually needs the gun off duty.)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-val-demings-gun-stolen-032509,0,4650814.story

Speaking of Which…: I've had a lot of students in my ccw training classes tell me that they wanted to get a concealed handgun license, but only planned to carry a gun "when they might need it." My answer to that is always, "so, all the time then?". I think everyone at one time or another has watched a nature program where some predator is preparing to attack its prey. We watch as the lion, as an example, stealthily creeps close to the gazelle before suddenly charging. Why does it hunt that way? Why not just run straight at the herd from the beginning? It is obvious that such an act would fail more often than not. The odds of a successful hunt greatly increase if the gazelle is caught unawares and unprepared. Two legged predators function in exactly the same way. They're not going to wait for you to get ready and they're certainly not going to walk up to you on that secluded trail in the park and let you know to bring your gun with you tomorrow since they're planning to rob and kill you…

http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d25-Ill-be-lying-in-a-pile-of-brass
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03-25-09

From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info>
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
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From GOA: An amendment to repeal the National Park Service (NPS) gun ban is headed to the floor of the U.S. House on Wednesday, March 25. The massive public land bill, which has bounced between the House and Senate in recent weeks, has sidestepped the issue of your right to self-defense. Several pro-gun representatives tried to amend the bill so that it offers real protection of Second Amendment rights, but they were prevented by the anti-gun leadership. Repeal of the gun ban takes on added urgency after a federal appeals court issued an injunction last week to stop changes made by the Bush administration to allow concealed carry on NPS land from taking effect. When the bill comes to the floor on Wednesday, pro-gun Representatives Doc Hastings (R-WA) and Rob Bishop (R-UT) plan to offer an amendment to repeal the onerous NPS gun ban. First, a procedural vote, known as "Ordering the Previous Question," will be voted on. A "no" vote is the pro-gun position on that motion. If we are successful on that vote, there will be a vote on an amendment to repeal the NPS gun ban. Urge your representative to vote IN FAVOR of  the Hastings-Bishop amendment…

http://gunowners.org/a032409.htm

(The Take Action tab on the site can be used to generate an e-mail to your representative.)

After several false starts, the House is expected to take up a long-delayed bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness. The House rejected the bill two weeks ago amid a partisan dispute over gun rights, but the measure was brought up again in the Senate and approved last week. Because of a parliamentary maneuver adopted in the Senate, the House is likely to take up the bill Wednesday under a rule that blocks amendments or other motions to derail it. The bill would confer the government's highest level of protection on land in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/25/house-to-take-up-stalled-wilderness-bill-1/

A federal judge ruled there must be a full review of the possible environmental impact of allowing citizens on national properties to carry concealed guns in holsters rather than locked cases. The decision comes from U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who issued a preliminary injunction banning implementation of a rule that had been adopted just before President Bush left office. It would have allowed citizens who have concealed-carry permits to follow the appropriate state laws in carrying weapons on national park lands. The judge cited "the almost universal view among interested parties that persons who possess concealed, loaded, and operable firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges will use them for any number of reasons, including self-defense against persons and animals." …

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92754
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DC Ads Target Congress: D.C. voting rights advocates have launched an ad campaign urging Congress to give the city a full vote in the House without also repealing its gun restrictions. Ilir Zherka, executive director of the group DC Vote, says the ads are running on local and national blogs, radio stations and Capitol Hill newspapers. One online ad includes an image of a gun and reads, "D.C.'s rights held hostage." The Senate passed the D.C. voting rights bill last month with an amendment that would repeal most of the city's strict gun-control laws. A vote in the House has been postponed while Democratic leaders strategize on how to move forward. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, told reporters Tuesday he hopes to have a vote before the House takes a one-week break April 4.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/25/metro-briefs-71282725/
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Oakland Shootings Could Trigger Infringements: If history repeats itself, the fatal shootings of four Oakland police officers on Saturday afternoon will become the next benchmark in the national debate on a federal law to ban assault weapons. If there is a grain of hope to be gathered from a loss so tragic, it's that last weekend's horrific events will help end the debate on an unresolved policy issue that has resulted in thousands of deaths and helped sustain veritable demilitarized zones in some of our nation's largest cities. In Oakland, a city already struggling with high crime and gun violence, the deaths of two officers gunned down with an AK-47 qualify city officials to lend their voices to any national debate on the issue. While the tragedy in Oakland lacks the scale of the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Columbine High School nearly a decade ago, the deaths of four officers in a single incident is a significant event that sends shock waves across the nation…

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/23/BAVF16LQ9U.DTL

At the law enforcement symposium, the issue of banning assault weapons could not be avoided. Susan Manheimer, police chief for the city of San Mateo, says no equipment can really protect officers from the high powered weapons. "It is something we feel very strongly about is a ban on assault weapons and you need only look at what happened in Oakland to understand the power and the danger of those type of weapons," Manheimer said. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has said she plans to introduce legislation to bring back the weapons ban. President Clinton signed it into law in 1994, but it expired in 2004. Monday, she stayed clear of talking about the specifics of such a ban…

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=6724902

Oakland Shootings Show Uselessness of "Gun Control": …See, that's the thing. Being a "prohibited person," it was illegal for Mixon to touch any gun. It was illegal for him to have a handgun, to carry it, to kill with it. And California has "assault weapon" bans that cover not only the model Mixon used, but also the characteristics… One of the bits of disinformation used to justify banning semiautomatic rifles is that the ammunition they fire can penetrate police vests. The truth is, the AK and variants fire a round that is hardly high-powered by rifle standards - so while the gunhaters are quick to assure people their hunting rifles are safe, any such rifle will penetrate body armor designed to stop handgun rounds. But note in this case, vest penetration was not a factor - so why even bring it up? …

http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d24-Oakland-shootings-show-uselessness-of-gun-control?cid=exrss-Gun-Rights-Examiner

Would You Know an "Assault Weapon" if You Saw One?: …Looks are the only thing these firearms have in common with real assault rifles. No army or terrorist group in the world would limit themselves to such weapons as they are primarily suitable for sporting purposes and civilian self defense, not the battlefield. A study done by the US Department of Justice found that these kinds of guns are used in less than 1% of all gun crimes. And yet, these unscrupulous individuals have absolutely no qualms about lying to the public in order to sell their agenda…

http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d24-Would-you-know-an-assault-weapon-if-you-saw-one
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Seattle Gun Ban Will Be Challenged: Once again when faced with a controversy, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is reviving his plan to ban legally-carried firearms from city property, and the Second Amendment Foundation today promises once again to immediately take him to court. "This time around," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, "Mayor Nickels needs to raise this issue to distract public attention from the political smell arising from the snow-plowing investigation. We remind the mayor that his office has been warned by Attorney General Rob McKenna that neither he, nor the city, has the authority to enact such a ban under state preemption. Mayor Nickels thinks he can enact this ban merely by executive order," Gottlieb observed. "He's not even thinking of putting this before the city council as a proposed ordinance, because he knows it would never pass. Greg Nickels is the mayor of Seattle, not the emperor of a city-state." Nickels' plan was revealed by the Seattle Weekly Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the mayor's office told the newspaper that the ban "is expected to begin sometime in May." Gottlieb said SAF expects to be joined in a legal action by other gun rights organizations…

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-24-2009/0004993949&EDATE=\

Mayor Greg Nickels is going forward with a controversial executive order which would ban "dangerous weapons" - including firearms - on Seattle owned parks and properties. An exact date has not been set yet for when the ban will go into effect. However, a spokesman for the Mayor's office said the ban is currently expected to begin sometime in May. Coincidentally, this places the time somewhere around the one-year anniversary of the freak shooting incident at Folklife, last year, that left two people injured and was the casus belli for the order. The move also comes in spite of legal concerns questioning whether the city can unilaterally prohibit firearms owners, particularly those possessing Concealed Pistol Licenses, from exercising their legal rights…

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/03/mayor_nickels_moving_forward_w.php
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Wisconsin Open-Carry Primer: This is the first in a series of three articles I will write concerning your newly restored right to go armed in public. In this article I will cover the very basics that you must to know – this is just the beginning. The next article I will explain the judicious use of lethal force when the law says you may use lethal force to stop a threat. Finally I will address the handgun wounding factors of a human as a target and what you may expect to happen to you and to the attacker if shots are actually fired. I doubt that anyone would argue that including an owner's manual with safety instructions when you purchase a piece of equipment that could harm you if used improperly, is a bad idea. If you think about it, most safety rules are defensive and written to help keep you out of trouble. Your decision to follow the recommended safety precautions or not will have a great influence over your future happiness… (I don't know if Gene plans to mention this but I recommend that those who carry openly use holsters with retention features, such as straps or trigger-guard lugs.)
 
http://www.examiner.com/x-5103-Wisconsin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d23-If-you-open-carry--Wisconsin-laws-you-must-know?cid=exrss-Wisconsin-Gun-Rights-Examiner
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Arkansas Open-Carry Bill Withdrawn: Yet another weapons bill hit committee this afternoon as the House Judiciary Committee considered Rep. Mark Martin's legislation to allow people to carry firearms in plain sight. The bill's lack of provisions for training and its apparent permissiveness toward the open-carry of machine guns was too much for the committee. Though Rep. Martin did not agree with these criticisms, he pulled the bill down for amendment to ensure that it would not be legal for children to wield a gun. Several legislators suggested they might vote for the bill if it required some sort of permit or training for open carry, but Rep. Martin firmly resisted making a change. He argued that such a requirement would place a financial burden on impoverished people. The poor who couldn't pay would be unable to exercise what Rep. Martin considers a constitutional right to bear arms in the open. In response to the comment that anyone who owns a gun can also afford a training course, Rep. Martin responded that a gun might be inherited or earned from some sort of program…

http://arkledge.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/open-carry-bill-meets-skepticism/
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Ohio Man Sues over Open-Carry Arrest: A city resident claims Englewood deprived him of his constitutional rights to carry a firearm and that police officers falsely arrested him during the 2007 Fine Arts Festival. According to his lawsuit filed March 19 in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, Kent Maynard claims he was stopped and questioned by police for openly carrying a 9mm pistol during the festival at the city's Centennial Park. At the time, the city had an ordinance prohibiting weapons in any city park. Maynard contends that recent state law superseded the city's ordinance…

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/03/23/ddn032309gunsuitweb.html
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Kansas RKBA Referendum Clears Senate: Voters may get to decide next November whether Kansas should amend its constitution to clarify that the right to bear arms is an individual right, not a collective right. A measure placing the issue on the 2010 general election ballot cleared the Senate by a 40-0 vote Tuesday. A similar resolution is awaiting action in the House. It's a response to a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision that says the federal Constitution's Second Amendment grants individuals the right to bear arms. The Kansas Constitution says: "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security." But a 1905 Kansas Supreme Court decision says it's a collective, not an individual, right. The proposed amendment would give the right to each person.

http://www.ksnt.com/news/state/story/Kansas-gun-amendment-advances/_7SACbeO00KWVq2SSVpSxQ.cspx
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Oops, Wrong Burger King: An afternoon shootout at a busy Burger King restaurant in Miami left a potential robber dead and the customer who shot him seriously wounded. The bloody event unfolded about 4 p.m. Tuesday at the restaurant at Northeast 54th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. It was a time, employees said, when it is usually crowded with schoolchildren and people getting out of work early. The robber entered wearing a ski mask. He approached a clerk, showed his gun and demanded money, said Miami police spokesman Jeff Giordano. A customer eyed him and the two started arguing. The customer had a concealed-weapons permit and his gun - and the two exchanged gunfire. The robber crumpled to the floor and was pronounced dead at the scene. The customer, with several gunshot wounds, was in serious but stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center…

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/966133.html
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Oops, Wrong Shoppers: Three people have been arrested after a would-be victim stopped a robbery attempt on a Wal-Mart parking lot in Little Rock Monday night. It happened around eleven o'clock at the store at 19301 Cantrell Road (Highway 10), when a woman was loading groceries into her car and was approached by a man holding a handgun. When the man grabbed her purse, the woman struggled with him before her husband pulled a weapon of his own from a holster and shot at the man four times. The suspect then jumped into a waiting car with two other people inside and sped away. Within minutes, police located the man at UAMS in Little Rock, where he and two others were arrested.

http://arkansasmatters.com/content/fulltext/news/?cid=203751

03-23-09

Stephen P. Wenger  http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
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A Milestone, of Sorts: With the mailing list having hit 594, I spent some time yesterday rebuilding it in seven sections, to ensure that none of the subsections exceed my ISP's limit of 100 recipients. If you fail to receive a mailing in the coming days, let me know - I am pretty well accustomed to sending only six sets each morning.
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Senators Debate Mexican Impact of US Gun Laws: Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week clashed over whether the lack of gun-control laws in the United States is responsible for violence in Mexico. At  a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Crime and Drugs and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, conservative Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions from Alabama said just because Mexican drug traffickers are smuggling U.S. guns into Mexico to wreak bloody havoc, doesn't mean that U.S. gun laws are somehow responsible… But liberal Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the current majority whip, directly blamed American laws and policies for facilitating the influx of weapons into Mexico…

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=45452
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The Beat Goes On: There are a number of reasons but the most prevalent are people are afraid the Obama administration, sooner or later, will get around to creating more-restrictive gun ownership laws and taxes. And those are not unfounded fears. So gun owners are stocking up on ammunition, handguns and semiautomatic rifles. Sales are up 50 percent since Barack Obama was elected. And gun-control advocates have taken notice. In a story in Seacoast Sunday last week, Peter Hamm of the Washington-D.C.-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence used words like "lunacy" to describe people who are buying guns…

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090322-OPINION-903220321

Gun sales are up significantly across the nation the past few months. Some point to a significant change in the White House, Congress and the economy as the reason for the rapid rise. The Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club is open to its members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And more people are coming than ever before. But why? Is economic turmoil leading to a predicted rise in break-ins and the increased need for protection? Or is the belief that the Obama Administration will renew the ban on assault weapons leading to a spike in the sale of guns and ammunition? In the days following the election in November, sales were brisk at Northeast Trading Company in North Attleboro, Mass. Now more than four months later, gun dealers continue to be busy and new members are coming to shoot in record numbers at the Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club…

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/03/22/Gun-sales-on-the-rise-but/1237772495.html

The popular handguns are on back order. Some kinds of semiautomatic rifles are even harder to get. Ammo, too, is at a premium. In short, the gun industry is weathering the recession just fine. In Massachusetts and across America, the recent surge in gun buying has been fueled by fears that President Obama will restrict gun rights, and by creeping anxiety about crime and the economy. "It's a tug-of-war between the anxiety of the general public and their lack of money," said Andrew Molchan, president of the Professional Gun Retailers Association. "Right now, anxiety seems to be winning out." At M&M Plimoth Bay Outfitters in Plymouth, AR-15s and other military-pattern semiautomatic rifles, once heavily restricted as so-called assault weapons, have been quickest to sell…

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/business_market/x2087806903/Fears-about-crime-and-economy-trigger-higher-gun-sales
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Full-Auto Fib: When General Wesley Clark was recently on Geraldo Rivera's Fox News show, he said that the United States needs to impose a new "assault weapons ban," and said that if Americans want machine guns, they should join the military.  I don't know how many times it has to be said, but the so-called "assault weapons" that Attorney General Holder wants to ban aren't machine guns. They're the same semi-automatic firearms that have been around for more than 100 years. General Clark is deliberately misleading the American people. Clark also said that the problem we have isn't sealing the border from south to north, but from north to south. The Los Angeles Times recently reported the opposite. The paper says military weapons, including machine guns, anti-tank rockets, RPGs, grenade launchers and grenades are the new weapons of choice for the drug cartels. Sorry, General, but they're not getting that kind of weaponry at a gun show in Arizona…

http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=508
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F Troop in Iraq: Amid the orderly transfer of power, our new Chief Executive has issued a call for responsibility. As is the case with most of his public statements, his meaning is not clear. However, if he means holding government officials accountable for their actions, a novel and great idea, it is something that we can all embrace. It is particularly true of those officials within agencies with a long and well documented history of abuses of entrusted powers. Somehow, ATFE comes to mind as the poster boy for irresponsibility and unaccountability… ATFE Special Agents were deployed in Iraq on 90-day TDY assignments between 2003 and 2008. During that time, they were paid $4,175,731.00 in unauthorized and unlawful overtime pay. They filed fraudulent claims for the overtime and ATFE senior officials did nothing to monitor the claims or review them for conformity with federal law and regulations. In other words, the ATFE Special Agents, law enforcement officers who are sworn to faithfully execute the laws of the United States, filed false time and attendance reports claiming pay for overtime which was not worked and for which payment was not authorized under federal law…

http://www.sofmag.com/wp/2009/02/18/sof-exposes-batf-corruption-in-iraq/
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A Matter of Perspective: A black woman from the District of Columbia who lost children to "gun violence" and who advocates for the victims of unsolved murders is calling on liberal Democrats to come to grips with the Second Amendment and vote for a bill before Congress that would give D.C. a vote in the House of Representatives at the cost of rescinding the city's stringent gun control laws. "I want my vote to be counted. I want representation in Congress. And I also want the right to bear arms," Valencia Mohammed, director of Mothers of Unsolved Murders, is quoted in the March 21 Washington Post. Mohammed went on to note the racist history of gun control against slaves and former slaves during Reconstruction before asserting she wants "all of those rights that they were denied." But while it's great that the Post actually printed Mohammed's views, they were buried in paragraphs 24-27 of a 35-paragraph story on how a "Gun Law Compromise May Be Unavoidable to Pass Bill." …

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2009/03/21/powerful-pro-gun-argument-buried-post-article-d-c-vote
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The Armed Lifestyle: When I worked for the police department my partner and I would go to the range at least twice per month, although we weren't required to qualify with our firearms but twice per year. We enjoyed shooting but our main concern was maintaining our shooting skills. Besides, we could shoot as much as we desired as the department provided all the ammo, at least for department approved service weapons. Further, we attended every training class that was scheduled by our department… I can't say enough about maintaining one's shooting skills. Many of the officers with my department balked about having to qualify on the range twice per year. I probably did some shooting every weekend. I still hit the range frequently thirty some years later. I figure since I carry a concealed firearm every day every place I go (and I don't go places my firearm is not allowed if I can help it) I must continually maintain my shooting skills, especially since I am getting older and my eyesight is a bit weaker, not to mention a somewhat slower response time…

http://daveinvegasguntalk.blogtownhall.com/
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Indiana Could See Campus Carry: Imagine life at PUC with no gun ban. Picture a campus on where students, faculty, and visitors could all carry a concealed weapon, whether in the parking lot or the classroom. This scenario could soon be reality should State Senator Johnny Nugent of Lawrenceburg find three times a charm in a possible January, 2010 revival of his controversial gun legislation. Having failed in the Indiana Senate during the 2008 session and again last week for 2009, Nugent's bill would prohibit public colleges and universities in Indiana, which rely heavily on taxpayer funds, from establishing any regulation of firearms or ammunition. Co-author of the bill Senator Sue Landske of Cedar Lake, who has before carried a gun for self-defense, feels the gun ban leaves students vulnerable. I may not carry a gun [for protection] anymore...but maybe somebody else will," Landska said…

http://media.www.pucchronicle.com/media/storage/paper1082/news/2009/03/23/News/Puc-Could.See.A.New.Gun.Law-3678462.shtml