Sunday, December 13, 2009

12-13-09

by permission from: Stephen P. Wenger
comments in () by the same
http://www.spw-duf.info



Illinois Gubernatorial Candidates: The Associated Press recently asked candidates for Illinois governor questions about gun-control legislation. Here are highlights of their answers:
QUESTION: "Would you sign or veto legislation banning the sale and possession of semiautomatic assault-style weapons in Illinois?" …

QUESTION: "Would you sign or veto legislation allowing concealed-carry for handguns?" …
http://www.wandtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11666917
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A New Breed of Criminal: Violent gangs are popping up in the last place you would ever expect: Upper-middle-class Valley neighborhoods. The parents are doctors and lawyers. Some live in gated communities but police say these educated, privileged high school and college students are just as willing as your average street thug to steal, cheat and even kill. Twenty-two suspected gang members have been arrested so far and investigators say more arrests are coming. They range in age from 19 to 24 years old. Investigators say they committed crimes in all corners of the Valley and those crimes were becoming increasingly violent. Investigators say their crimes started by organizing so-called party crew events and selling booze to 14 to 20-year-olds. Roger Vanderpool, a Department of Public Safety director, says, "It's not a safe environment. Bad things happen there." A group of Valley law enforcement agencies spent the last year investigating the suspected gang members. They are all young men along with one young woman… (This is a phenomenon I first saw two decades ago, with Vietnamese and Chinese youth in California. I credit, in part, the entertainment industry for glorifying the "gangsta" scene.)

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Violent-gangs-in-well-to-do-neighborhoods-across-N-Phoenix-79109182.html
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Oops, Wrong House: Police are investigating a possible home invasion in the 2100 block of east 35th on Spokane's south hill. Police say they received a call from a homeowner around 7 p.m. Friday.  He told police someone tried to break into his house and he shot at them. The homeowner, 85-year-old Andy Anderson, said he had just gone to bed when he heard someone enter his home through a side door.  Mr. Anderson said the suspect then went to his home office and began rummaging around.  At that point Mr. Anderson grabbed his handgun and confronted the suspect in the hallway.  Mr. Anderson said he came face to face with the suspect and shouted at him, "Who are You?" when the suspect did not respond Mr. Anderson said he fired at him twice and the suspect fled through the front door…

http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=11665636
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Staying Vigilant without Being Paranoid: …Being aware of your surroundings is a necessary survival skill but it's not an "on-off" switch - in the best cases this is almost always a gradation, a continuum. You can learn to control your attention, to make it flexible, effective, and responsive to the moment-to-moment needs of your patrol situation. That way, you don't have to maintain white-knuckled concentration to keep safe. Instead, your well-trained attention control system will act like a mental firewall, automatically scanning the environment so that it will be hard to catch you off guard. Here's how it works…

http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/1973293-Keys-to-staying-vigilant-without-being-paranoid/
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Defending a Self-Defense Case: …Many assumptions about trial tactics are inverted in a self-defense case. If the defendant presents some evidence on each of the elements of self-defense, then he or she is entitled to a jury instruction on the issue, which places the burden of proof squarely on the prosecutor to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. If the prosecution fails to disprove self-defense, the client is acquitted. In practice, however, the defense attorney has a great deal of work to do in order to convince the jurors that the client's conduct fell within the common law of self-defense or within applicable state statutes. This article is a starting point for attorneys representing clients in a self-defense case. It is focused on the common law of self-defense, using Massachusetts as its primary example, but the general principles are applicable in any state. It also introduces attorneys to some of the research regarding use of force conducted by police and self-defense instructors…

http://www.criminaljustice.org/public.nsf/01c1e7698280d20385256d0b00789923/f587d7d10c34fff2852572b90069bc3c?OpenDocument
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"Did you really think we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken...There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law breakers - and then you cash in on guilt..."

- Ayn Rand (1905-1982), spoken by Dr. Floyd Ferris in Atlas Shrugged, 1957)

 



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