From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
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More Infringements Won't Stop Mass Shootings: Inevitably, the massacres in Germany and Alabama over the last two days have produced more calls for gun control. Already the attack in Alabama is being used to call for a new assault weapons ban, even though there are no published academic studies by economists or criminologists showing that the previous ban reduced violent crime… Multiple-victim public shootings are terrifying and they drive much of the gun control debate, but they make up just a tiny fraction of one percent of the murders in the United States, Europe, or the rest of the world. The problem is that the gun control laws that come out of these crimes not only make crime go up, they also make multiple victim public shootings more likely. Research shows that police are the single most important factor for reducing crime, but even the police themselves understand that they virtually always arrive on the crime scene after the crime has occurred. Letting law-abiding citizens defend themselves not only deters some crimes from occurring, but it is the surest way of reducing the carnage when attacks do occur…
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/03/12/lott_europe_gun_control/
…The last seven years of German school shootings make the United States seem peaceful by comparison: Though the U.S. has almost five times as many students as Germany, 37 people were killed during all multiple-victim K-12 shootings in the U.S. during the eight years from fall 1997 to summer 2005. Germany suffered more than 40 deaths in the same period. Clearly gun control doesn't save lives. Germany already has some of the strictest gun-control laws in Europe - much stricter than are being discussed in the U.S. Yet Germany suffers more school shootings per capita than the U.S. Even banning guns outright doesn't prevent school massacres. Over the past seven years France, Finland, and Switzerland have suffered from mass shootings, yet the attacks happened in buildings where guns were banned…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/12/more-guns-equal-less-crime/
Germany is known for having strict gun possession laws. The legal age for owning recreational firearms was raised from 18 to 21 after a 2002 shooting in Erfurt that killed 16 people. Weapons cannot be bought without a license, which can be acquired only after proving expert knowledge of firearms and a need for the weapon. Still, Germany has not been immune to school shootings. In the latest case, a 17-year-old former student armed with a Beretta 9-millimeter pistol burst into classrooms at a high school near Stuttgart on Wednesday. He killed 15 people - nine students and three teachers and, as he fled, three men - before killing himself…
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-germany-shooting12-2009mar12,0,6204180.story?track=rss
By the time a 17-year-old gunman had finished his wild shooting spree at a school near Stuttgart, Germany, this week, at least nine young pupils and three teachers lay dead. Only after fleeing the scene, with the police in hot pursuit, and a final shootout with authorities, was the attacker finally killed. Could an armed teacher have made a difference? Of course. Surely a teacher with a gun in the hand would have been better than a cop on the phone. The incident proves what has long been known: The only person who can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun – nobody else will be of much help…
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91528
Germany does not need to tighten its gun laws in response to school shootings by a teenager in southwestern Germany on Wednesday, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. Some German politicians have called for a ban on private gun ownership and urged authorities to set up airport-style security systems at schools in response to the massacre, which left 16 people dead, including the killer. "I can't see how a change in weapons rules would contribute anything to solving the problem," Schaeuble, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Reuters….
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52B5UX20090312
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Individualism and Self-Defense: There are present in America today a very large number of citizens who believe protection of themselves and their loved ones from violent physical attack, robbery, rape and general mayhem is the sole responsibility of others. Most of these ignorant folks believe that employees of the state should be responsible for protection of the individual in our society. This view is elitist and based on false assumptions. Depending on others for personal protection masks the belief by many that they are of a higher station in life; that those of a lower social level and therefore inferior in stature and value should be responsible for their personal protection. They believe their lives and property to be more important than the lives of members of law enforcement and the military…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy52.html
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Interesting Claim: …According to the Mexican government, about 90 percent of weapons seized from the cartels came illegally from the United States. One shipment seized in November included 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 288 assault rifles, 287 grenades, two grenade launchers and a rocket launcher used to take out tanks, Mexico's ambassador to the United States wrote recently in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif… Feinstein and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., want the Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials. To date, 29 countries have ratified the convention, including Mexico - but not the United States… (Grenades, grenade launchers and rocket launchers, along with true assault rifles, are not generally available at gun shops and gun shows. If they are truly being smuggled into Mexico from the US, they would likely have been stolen from military facilities. In such a case, it's difficult to argue that placing more restrictions on civilian purchases will affect that source.)
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42233&dcn=e_gvet
… Mexican law enforcement authorities and soldiers face heavily armed drug gangs with high-powered military automatic weapons. Perhaps 90% of these weapons are smuggled across the US border. They are frequently purchased from licensed US gun dealers in Texas, Arizona, and California. AK-47 assault rifles are literally bought a hundred at a time and illegally brought into Mexico. Mexican authorities routinely seize BOXES of unopened automatic military weapons. The confiscation rates by Mexican law enforcement of hand grenades, RPG's, and AK-47's are at the level of wartime battlefield seizures. It is hard to understand the seeming indifference and incompetence of US authorities at state and Federal level to such callous disregard for a national security threat to a neighboring democratic state. We would consider it an act of warfare from a sanctuary state if we were the victim… (Just where in Texas, Arizona and California are boxes of unopened automatic military weapons, hand grenades and RPG's available from licensed dealers for straw purchases?)
http://www.mccaffreyassociates.com/pdfs/Mexico_AAR_-_December_2008.pdf
Tighter gun control and stronger law enforcement in Southwestern states were recommended Thursday by lawmakers, including one from Tucson, concerned about drug violence in Mexico possibly spilling across the border… Tierney said 90 percent of the weapons seized from Mexican organized crime came from the United States, according to information from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Gun-control expert Tom Diaz said the U.S. needs to enforce gun-importation laws already on the books to prevent weapons coming into the United States and ending up in Mexico… (I thought it was Mexico that claimed that 90% of the firearms used by its drug gangs come from the US. As for Tom Diaz, he's never met a gun he wouldn't ban.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/284175
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Why Was the Army Policing Samson AL?: … Synopsis: Lt. Col. Scott Wile, Director of Public Safety and Provost Marshall at Ft. Rucker, Alabama explains the military's public role while assisting in law enforcement efforts at a shooting incident in southern Alabama on Mar 10th. It is unclear from this transcript whether the military was acting in a law enforcement role or not during the incident. Also of interest is LTC Wile's response when asked about his oath to the Constitution, and, specifically, his personal beliefs about the Second Amendment. Much commentary about this topic by Jones and callers during the show… (This matter was brought to my attention by a list member, concerned about an apparent violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. This article answers some of the questions he raised.)
http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2009/03/answers.html
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Appeals Court Dismisses Atlanta Airport-Carry Suit: A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit by a Georgia gun group that sought to allow firearms in parts of the world's busiest airport. The group, GeorgiaCarry.org, sued after the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport banned guns from even unsecured areas in the terminals. That was a response to a Georgia law enacted last summer that allowed people with permits to take their guns into restaurants and state parks and on public transportation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/us/13brfs-AIRPORTGUNSU_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=us
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BATFE Settles with Idaho Gun Shop: A battle between an Idaho gun shop and federal regulators over the shop's right to sell guns that has consumed nearly seven years and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees has been closed down with an agreement that an outside third party will help with the shop's record-keeping. The long-running dispute was between inspectors for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmes and Explosives and Ryan Horsley, manager of Red's Trading Post of Twin Falls, Idaho. The resolution comes in a case in which the government alleged the shop made mistakes in its gun sales record-keeping to the point that inspectors complained about a "threat" from the gun shop manager when he posted an update on his disagreement with the agency on his blog…
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91524
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/489069.html
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/03/12/news/local_state/157027.txt
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Montana Student Leaders Oppose Expanded RKBA: In order to help ASUM come to a decision regarding a gun rights bill in the Montana Senate, Public Safety Director Jim Lemcke spoke to the senators during the Wednesday night meeting. ASUM discussed House Bill 228, which, if passed by Montana legislatures, would make the permit process to obtain a concealed weapon easier, as well as redefine self-defense. ASUM spent the bulk of the meeting deciding whether or not to voice opposition to the bill before ultimately deciding to oppose the bill by a vote of 20-2… (It sounds as though the student senators opted to hear only from the head of the university police.)
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/news/news_article/asum_opposes_state_gun_rights_bill/3550
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Rule Three Reminder?: Want a 9mm bullet with that fettuccine alfredo? One Olive Garden patron got a bit more at lunch than he planned Wednesday after his concealed weapon accidentally discharged. The man was seated in the bar area of the Italian restaurant, 504 W. 2230 North, when he tried to adjust his 9mm pistol in his hip holster, said Provo Police Lt. John Geyerman. Somehow the gun fired and a bullet became lodged in the man's chair. No one was injured in the 1:15 p.m. incident and the slug was later recovered by police… (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire. It's hard to say what caused this pistol to fire but the photograph appears to be of a pistol that has a double-action trigger. Details are lacking as to the design of the holster.)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C705290246%2C00.html
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/03/12/lott_europe_gun_control/
…The last seven years of German school shootings make the United States seem peaceful by comparison: Though the U.S. has almost five times as many students as Germany, 37 people were killed during all multiple-victim K-12 shootings in the U.S. during the eight years from fall 1997 to summer 2005. Germany suffered more than 40 deaths in the same period. Clearly gun control doesn't save lives. Germany already has some of the strictest gun-control laws in Europe - much stricter than are being discussed in the U.S. Yet Germany suffers more school shootings per capita than the U.S. Even banning guns outright doesn't prevent school massacres. Over the past seven years France, Finland, and Switzerland have suffered from mass shootings, yet the attacks happened in buildings where guns were banned…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/12/more-guns-equal-less-crime/
Germany is known for having strict gun possession laws. The legal age for owning recreational firearms was raised from 18 to 21 after a 2002 shooting in Erfurt that killed 16 people. Weapons cannot be bought without a license, which can be acquired only after proving expert knowledge of firearms and a need for the weapon. Still, Germany has not been immune to school shootings. In the latest case, a 17-year-old former student armed with a Beretta 9-millimeter pistol burst into classrooms at a high school near Stuttgart on Wednesday. He killed 15 people - nine students and three teachers and, as he fled, three men - before killing himself…
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-germany-shooting12-2009mar12,0,6204180.story?track=rss
By the time a 17-year-old gunman had finished his wild shooting spree at a school near Stuttgart, Germany, this week, at least nine young pupils and three teachers lay dead. Only after fleeing the scene, with the police in hot pursuit, and a final shootout with authorities, was the attacker finally killed. Could an armed teacher have made a difference? Of course. Surely a teacher with a gun in the hand would have been better than a cop on the phone. The incident proves what has long been known: The only person who can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun – nobody else will be of much help…
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91528
Germany does not need to tighten its gun laws in response to school shootings by a teenager in southwestern Germany on Wednesday, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. Some German politicians have called for a ban on private gun ownership and urged authorities to set up airport-style security systems at schools in response to the massacre, which left 16 people dead, including the killer. "I can't see how a change in weapons rules would contribute anything to solving the problem," Schaeuble, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Reuters….
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52B5UX20090312
---
Individualism and Self-Defense: There are present in America today a very large number of citizens who believe protection of themselves and their loved ones from violent physical attack, robbery, rape and general mayhem is the sole responsibility of others. Most of these ignorant folks believe that employees of the state should be responsible for protection of the individual in our society. This view is elitist and based on false assumptions. Depending on others for personal protection masks the belief by many that they are of a higher station in life; that those of a lower social level and therefore inferior in stature and value should be responsible for their personal protection. They believe their lives and property to be more important than the lives of members of law enforcement and the military…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy52.html
---
Interesting Claim: …According to the Mexican government, about 90 percent of weapons seized from the cartels came illegally from the United States. One shipment seized in November included 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 288 assault rifles, 287 grenades, two grenade launchers and a rocket launcher used to take out tanks, Mexico's ambassador to the United States wrote recently in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif… Feinstein and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., want the Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials. To date, 29 countries have ratified the convention, including Mexico - but not the United States… (Grenades, grenade launchers and rocket launchers, along with true assault rifles, are not generally available at gun shops and gun shows. If they are truly being smuggled into Mexico from the US, they would likely have been stolen from military facilities. In such a case, it's difficult to argue that placing more restrictions on civilian purchases will affect that source.)
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42233&dcn=e_gvet
… Mexican law enforcement authorities and soldiers face heavily armed drug gangs with high-powered military automatic weapons. Perhaps 90% of these weapons are smuggled across the US border. They are frequently purchased from licensed US gun dealers in Texas, Arizona, and California. AK-47 assault rifles are literally bought a hundred at a time and illegally brought into Mexico. Mexican authorities routinely seize BOXES of unopened automatic military weapons. The confiscation rates by Mexican law enforcement of hand grenades, RPG's, and AK-47's are at the level of wartime battlefield seizures. It is hard to understand the seeming indifference and incompetence of US authorities at state and Federal level to such callous disregard for a national security threat to a neighboring democratic state. We would consider it an act of warfare from a sanctuary state if we were the victim… (Just where in Texas, Arizona and California are boxes of unopened automatic military weapons, hand grenades and RPG's available from licensed dealers for straw purchases?)
http://www.mccaffreyassociates.com/pdfs/Mexico_AAR_-_December_2008.pdf
Tighter gun control and stronger law enforcement in Southwestern states were recommended Thursday by lawmakers, including one from Tucson, concerned about drug violence in Mexico possibly spilling across the border… Tierney said 90 percent of the weapons seized from Mexican organized crime came from the United States, according to information from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Gun-control expert Tom Diaz said the U.S. needs to enforce gun-importation laws already on the books to prevent weapons coming into the United States and ending up in Mexico… (I thought it was Mexico that claimed that 90% of the firearms used by its drug gangs come from the US. As for Tom Diaz, he's never met a gun he wouldn't ban.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/284175
---
Why Was the Army Policing Samson AL?: … Synopsis: Lt. Col. Scott Wile, Director of Public Safety and Provost Marshall at Ft. Rucker, Alabama explains the military's public role while assisting in law enforcement efforts at a shooting incident in southern Alabama on Mar 10th. It is unclear from this transcript whether the military was acting in a law enforcement role or not during the incident. Also of interest is LTC Wile's response when asked about his oath to the Constitution, and, specifically, his personal beliefs about the Second Amendment. Much commentary about this topic by Jones and callers during the show… (This matter was brought to my attention by a list member, concerned about an apparent violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. This article answers some of the questions he raised.)
http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2009/03/answers.html
---
Appeals Court Dismisses Atlanta Airport-Carry Suit: A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit by a Georgia gun group that sought to allow firearms in parts of the world's busiest airport. The group, GeorgiaCarry.org, sued after the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport banned guns from even unsecured areas in the terminals. That was a response to a Georgia law enacted last summer that allowed people with permits to take their guns into restaurants and state parks and on public transportation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/us/13brfs-AIRPORTGUNSU_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=us
---
BATFE Settles with Idaho Gun Shop: A battle between an Idaho gun shop and federal regulators over the shop's right to sell guns that has consumed nearly seven years and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees has been closed down with an agreement that an outside third party will help with the shop's record-keeping. The long-running dispute was between inspectors for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmes and Explosives and Ryan Horsley, manager of Red's Trading Post of Twin Falls, Idaho. The resolution comes in a case in which the government alleged the shop made mistakes in its gun sales record-keeping to the point that inspectors complained about a "threat" from the gun shop manager when he posted an update on his disagreement with the agency on his blog…
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91524
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/489069.html
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/03/12/news/local_state/157027.txt
---
Montana Student Leaders Oppose Expanded RKBA: In order to help ASUM come to a decision regarding a gun rights bill in the Montana Senate, Public Safety Director Jim Lemcke spoke to the senators during the Wednesday night meeting. ASUM discussed House Bill 228, which, if passed by Montana legislatures, would make the permit process to obtain a concealed weapon easier, as well as redefine self-defense. ASUM spent the bulk of the meeting deciding whether or not to voice opposition to the bill before ultimately deciding to oppose the bill by a vote of 20-2… (It sounds as though the student senators opted to hear only from the head of the university police.)
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/news/news_article/asum_opposes_state_gun_rights_bill/3550
---
Rule Three Reminder?: Want a 9mm bullet with that fettuccine alfredo? One Olive Garden patron got a bit more at lunch than he planned Wednesday after his concealed weapon accidentally discharged. The man was seated in the bar area of the Italian restaurant, 504 W. 2230 North, when he tried to adjust his 9mm pistol in his hip holster, said Provo Police Lt. John Geyerman. Somehow the gun fired and a bullet became lodged in the man's chair. No one was injured in the 1:15 p.m. incident and the slug was later recovered by police… (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire. It's hard to say what caused this pistol to fire but the photograph appears to be of a pistol that has a double-action trigger. Details are lacking as to the design of the holster.)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C705290246%2C00.html
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