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2009, Year of the Gun?: According to some posters, pollsters, politicos and pundits, 2009 is shaping up to be the Year of the Gun. That's because of the challenge to laws, the level of gun violence and the fueling of suspicion and distrust of government worldwide. America has challenges through the several states and is often considered to be the hotbed of controversy on the subject of guns. It isn't alone, of course, but perhaps discussion should start with a narration of its 2009 gun events… Even as the United States sorts out its regulations across the country regarding guns, other countries also have issues with guns. The Star Online reports In Kuala Lumpur a man is said to be facing death for killing a woman on his birthday and has two other charges related to possessing firearms illegally. The Times of India reports gun deaths increasing from "trigger happy" New Delhi and has an entire website devoted to news about guns. Gun trafficking and deaths is more, therefore, than just a U.S. problem…
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/283775
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The Beat Goes On: The continued high-volume sale of guns and ammunition nationwide in the last year will lead to a big increase in funds for wildlife habitat and management across the country, including Michigan. A federal tax collected on firearms and ammunition sales is redistributed to wildlife and hunting programs in each state, and only three - Alaska, Texas and Pennsylvania - get more money than the $17 million Michigan is expecting this year: $6 million more than last year's record. With budget cuts and the coming merger of the state's departments of natural resources and environmental quality, the extra bucks will come in handy. Besides funding hunter education and wildlife management, the tax is used to lease land from farmers to give hunters access and to operate the state's 128 game and wildlife areas. The amount each state gets is based on its number of hunting licenses and land. Michigan has hordes of hunters and the most state-owned land east of the Mississippi… Across the country, gun shops have had a busy year… Guns are no longer taboo. Single moms, college students and even older women are buying them and learning how to use them, McMahon said… There have been previous bursts of gun and ammo sales, such as around 1994, when a 10-year federal ban on semiautomatic weapons went into effect. But last year's sales tax collections more than doubled those figures…
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091214/NEWS06/312140008/1319/Michigan-expecting-record-17-million-in-taxes-from-gun-sales&template=fullarticle
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Bloomberg, Times Square and Virginia Tech: … Ironically, in making his point against gun violence, the mayor brought up the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech: "If you think about all the publicity about the terrible tragedy of Virginia Tech, we have a Virginia Tech in this country every day. It's just spread across 50 states." Doesn't the mayor know that instead of "too many guns," there was a dearth of guns on the college campus and the victims who were killed by the lone gunman were defenseless? Not surprisingly, the AP story reporting the mayor's remarks failed to point out this obvious contradiction in the mayor's "logic," reflecting the anti-gun bias of the reporters who wrote the story. So what happened in the Times Square shootout? … But regardless of the particulars of the case, how does this shootout justify Mayor Bloomberg's anti-gun position? Do laws disarming private citizens make the streets safer for the law-abiding ... or for thugs?
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/2538-nyc-mayor-bloomberg-qtoo-many-gunsq
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NRA Challenges Bloomberg Poll: Last week, anti-gun New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, released the findings of a poll conducted by a political consulting firm called "The Word Doctors," whose slogan is "It's not what you say, it's what people hear." Word Doctors' president is a pollster who has been reprimanded by the American Association for Public Opinion Research and censured by the National Council on Public Polls, and who says that the key to polling is "to ask a question in the way that you get the right answer." At some other time in our nation's history, an organization like this would not have been commissioned to conduct a poll, and perhaps it would not even have existed. At a minimum, its poll would have been considered biased and rejected by every newspaper in the country… But did the poll really show such strong support? Certainly the participants didn't have much information to go on. The poll didn't explain that the watchlist has been under fire by the Department of Justice's Inspector General's office and the ACLU for improperly including the names of innocent people, and that many innocent people have been mistaken for those who are on the watchlist. It didn't explain that Lautenberg's gun show bill would do much more than require NICS checks on private gun sales at gun shows…
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-nra-disputes-gun-poll-says-bloomberg-s-billions-buy-opinions-r-1260749066
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d13-NRA-debunks-contrived-gun-poll-results-Media-doesnt-care
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NRA versus Local Activists in Iowa: …Last year two state organizations, Iowa Carry and Iowa Gun Owners, banged heads with competing legislation and competing strategies. Iowa Carry was backing a "shall issue" bill which included mandatory training requirements and several other concessions. Iowa Gun Owners was pushing an Alaska-style bill which removed restrictions on concealed carry and offered an optional permit system for the sake of reciprocity. The Alaska bill had 25 cosponsors among the 100 members of the Iowa House and failed to pass by just one vote ending in a 49 – 49 tie in the final minutes of the legislative session. After such an impressive showing, one would expect advocates to unite around the Alaska-style bill for this legislative session with an eye towards either passing a very good bill, or forcing a clear record vote on such a bill and using that vote against opponents in the next General Election. Instead, after ignoring the state for decades, NRA has decided to ride their white horse into Iowa to save the day by amending the already weak Iowa Carry bill to make it not only weaker, but to actually include some provisions which are worse than existing law – snatching defeat from the jaws of victory… (It may have been one thing for NRA to have advocated a model handgun licensing law back in the 1920's and 30's, when a total handgun ban seemed to loom on the horizon, but that was then and this is now. NRA has a vested interest in training requirements and failed to support AzCDL's bill for Alaska-style permit-optional CCW in Arizona this year, costing its passage in the last-minute marathon session of the state senate.)
http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=491:nra-bad-for-iowa&catid=19:the-knox-update&Itemid=144
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Oops, Wrong Apartment: Phoenix police on Saturday released a man who told them he fatally shot another man in self-defense. Officer Luis Samudio says a 24-year-old man called police at about 3:15 a.m. to report a shooting at a northwest Phoenix apartment. Arriving officers found a 27-year-old man dead of gunshot wounds in the apartment. Samudio said the man told officers he shot the other man in self-defense. After being questioned, he was released pending further investigation. The names of the victim and the man who shot him were not released.
http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/79141122.html
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Oops, Wrong Driveway: A spokesman for the Jefferson Parish [LA] Sheriff's Office says a man who attempted to rob a Marrero couple at gunpoint died after 1 of the robbery victims shot him. Col. John Fortunato says the man was reported shot in the chest around 8 p.m. Saturday. He was taken to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Fortunato says investigators learned that the man was 1 of 3 male suspects who tried to rob the couple as they were walking from their driveway to their home. Fortunato says the male robbery victim was also armed and shot the perpetrator. The other two suspects fled on foot. The identity of the man who died was being withheld pending notification of family.
http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11669583
http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2009m12d13-Marrero-LA-robber-shot-by-his-wouldbe-victim
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Some Thoughts on Training: … Those who own firearms and practice with them enough to be considered proficient in their use, most likely choose good weather in which to practice; light conditions are optimal and a good comfort level is maintained. Sure, you can hit that silhouette at 25 ft with both hands the majority of the time with optimal conditions with your favorite handgun. You can also hit that target at 300 yards with your battle rifle, sometimes putting all your shots in a small group when conditions are great; fine indeed if your attack occurs only during the daylight with no wind and the temperature hovering around 72. How many know how they will perform these tasks when faced with darkness, heavy wind, freezing temperatures or blowing snow? Better yet, how many know how their equipment will perform in less than ideal conditions? If you can be 100% certain you will only be faced with a life-or-death self-defense situation when conditions are ideal, stop reading now; the following will be of no interest to you…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy76.1.html
---
Wooden Gun Sells for $19,120: An auction house says a wooden gun that John Dillinger's relatives believe was hand-carved and used by the one-time "Public Enemy No. 1" to escape jail has sold for $19,120 at auction. The artifact was one of 11 items put up for bid Saturday by Dillinger's younger sister, Frances Helen Dillinger, at an Arms & Militaria auction at Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Heritage arms and militaria director Dennis Lowe says the notorious Depression-era bank robber supposedly used the item to bluff his way out of a Crown Point, Ind., jail on March 3, 1934… (It's a miracle that wooden replicas were not included in the National Firearms Act of 1934, which, in its initial version, would also have treated handguns like machine guns, suppressors and short-barrel rifles and shotgun. The deletion of handguns neglected to delete the phrase "any other weapon" that followed the mention of handguns, hence the registration requirement for such things as wallet holsters that allow a pistol to be fired while it is still concealed in the holster.)
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912120384
---
Tangentially Related: Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, says the Obama administration is stalling in providing information to the leaders of the House and Senate and the congressional intelligence committees on the multiple murders allegedly committed by a radical Muslim Army officer at Fort Hood more than a month ago. So far, the committee chairman and congressional leaders have received no detailed, substantive briefing on the event and what is known about its perpetrator… "It's now three and a half, four weeks later," said Hoekstra. "I would assume that in the last four weeks we've gathered lots of info that should be shared with the intelligence committees. There is a "lack of transparency here," Hoekstra said, and "it is unbelievable the material and the information that they're withholding from us, from the American people." Hoekstra said that a report on the Fort Hood incident had been delivered to President Obama two weeks ago…
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/58470
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/283775
---
The Beat Goes On: The continued high-volume sale of guns and ammunition nationwide in the last year will lead to a big increase in funds for wildlife habitat and management across the country, including Michigan. A federal tax collected on firearms and ammunition sales is redistributed to wildlife and hunting programs in each state, and only three - Alaska, Texas and Pennsylvania - get more money than the $17 million Michigan is expecting this year: $6 million more than last year's record. With budget cuts and the coming merger of the state's departments of natural resources and environmental quality, the extra bucks will come in handy. Besides funding hunter education and wildlife management, the tax is used to lease land from farmers to give hunters access and to operate the state's 128 game and wildlife areas. The amount each state gets is based on its number of hunting licenses and land. Michigan has hordes of hunters and the most state-owned land east of the Mississippi… Across the country, gun shops have had a busy year… Guns are no longer taboo. Single moms, college students and even older women are buying them and learning how to use them, McMahon said… There have been previous bursts of gun and ammo sales, such as around 1994, when a 10-year federal ban on semiautomatic weapons went into effect. But last year's sales tax collections more than doubled those figures…
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091214/NEWS06/312140008/1319/Michigan-expecting-record-17-million-in-taxes-from-gun-sales&template=fullarticle
---
Bloomberg, Times Square and Virginia Tech: … Ironically, in making his point against gun violence, the mayor brought up the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech: "If you think about all the publicity about the terrible tragedy of Virginia Tech, we have a Virginia Tech in this country every day. It's just spread across 50 states." Doesn't the mayor know that instead of "too many guns," there was a dearth of guns on the college campus and the victims who were killed by the lone gunman were defenseless? Not surprisingly, the AP story reporting the mayor's remarks failed to point out this obvious contradiction in the mayor's "logic," reflecting the anti-gun bias of the reporters who wrote the story. So what happened in the Times Square shootout? … But regardless of the particulars of the case, how does this shootout justify Mayor Bloomberg's anti-gun position? Do laws disarming private citizens make the streets safer for the law-abiding ... or for thugs?
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/2538-nyc-mayor-bloomberg-qtoo-many-gunsq
---
NRA Challenges Bloomberg Poll: Last week, anti-gun New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, released the findings of a poll conducted by a political consulting firm called "The Word Doctors," whose slogan is "It's not what you say, it's what people hear." Word Doctors' president is a pollster who has been reprimanded by the American Association for Public Opinion Research and censured by the National Council on Public Polls, and who says that the key to polling is "to ask a question in the way that you get the right answer." At some other time in our nation's history, an organization like this would not have been commissioned to conduct a poll, and perhaps it would not even have existed. At a minimum, its poll would have been considered biased and rejected by every newspaper in the country… But did the poll really show such strong support? Certainly the participants didn't have much information to go on. The poll didn't explain that the watchlist has been under fire by the Department of Justice's Inspector General's office and the ACLU for improperly including the names of innocent people, and that many innocent people have been mistaken for those who are on the watchlist. It didn't explain that Lautenberg's gun show bill would do much more than require NICS checks on private gun sales at gun shows…
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-nra-disputes-gun-poll-says-bloomberg-s-billions-buy-opinions-r-1260749066
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d13-NRA-debunks-contrived-gun-poll-results-Media-doesnt-care
---
NRA versus Local Activists in Iowa: …Last year two state organizations, Iowa Carry and Iowa Gun Owners, banged heads with competing legislation and competing strategies. Iowa Carry was backing a "shall issue" bill which included mandatory training requirements and several other concessions. Iowa Gun Owners was pushing an Alaska-style bill which removed restrictions on concealed carry and offered an optional permit system for the sake of reciprocity. The Alaska bill had 25 cosponsors among the 100 members of the Iowa House and failed to pass by just one vote ending in a 49 – 49 tie in the final minutes of the legislative session. After such an impressive showing, one would expect advocates to unite around the Alaska-style bill for this legislative session with an eye towards either passing a very good bill, or forcing a clear record vote on such a bill and using that vote against opponents in the next General Election. Instead, after ignoring the state for decades, NRA has decided to ride their white horse into Iowa to save the day by amending the already weak Iowa Carry bill to make it not only weaker, but to actually include some provisions which are worse than existing law – snatching defeat from the jaws of victory… (It may have been one thing for NRA to have advocated a model handgun licensing law back in the 1920's and 30's, when a total handgun ban seemed to loom on the horizon, but that was then and this is now. NRA has a vested interest in training requirements and failed to support AzCDL's bill for Alaska-style permit-optional CCW in Arizona this year, costing its passage in the last-minute marathon session of the state senate.)
http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=491:nra-bad-for-iowa&catid=19:the-knox-update&Itemid=144
---
Oops, Wrong Apartment: Phoenix police on Saturday released a man who told them he fatally shot another man in self-defense. Officer Luis Samudio says a 24-year-old man called police at about 3:15 a.m. to report a shooting at a northwest Phoenix apartment. Arriving officers found a 27-year-old man dead of gunshot wounds in the apartment. Samudio said the man told officers he shot the other man in self-defense. After being questioned, he was released pending further investigation. The names of the victim and the man who shot him were not released.
http://www.fox11az.com/news/local/79141122.html
---
Oops, Wrong Driveway: A spokesman for the Jefferson Parish [LA] Sheriff's Office says a man who attempted to rob a Marrero couple at gunpoint died after 1 of the robbery victims shot him. Col. John Fortunato says the man was reported shot in the chest around 8 p.m. Saturday. He was taken to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Fortunato says investigators learned that the man was 1 of 3 male suspects who tried to rob the couple as they were walking from their driveway to their home. Fortunato says the male robbery victim was also armed and shot the perpetrator. The other two suspects fled on foot. The identity of the man who died was being withheld pending notification of family.
http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11669583
http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2009m12d13-Marrero-LA-robber-shot-by-his-wouldbe-victim
---
Some Thoughts on Training: … Those who own firearms and practice with them enough to be considered proficient in their use, most likely choose good weather in which to practice; light conditions are optimal and a good comfort level is maintained. Sure, you can hit that silhouette at 25 ft with both hands the majority of the time with optimal conditions with your favorite handgun. You can also hit that target at 300 yards with your battle rifle, sometimes putting all your shots in a small group when conditions are great; fine indeed if your attack occurs only during the daylight with no wind and the temperature hovering around 72. How many know how they will perform these tasks when faced with darkness, heavy wind, freezing temperatures or blowing snow? Better yet, how many know how their equipment will perform in less than ideal conditions? If you can be 100% certain you will only be faced with a life-or-death self-defense situation when conditions are ideal, stop reading now; the following will be of no interest to you…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy76.1.html
---
Wooden Gun Sells for $19,120: An auction house says a wooden gun that John Dillinger's relatives believe was hand-carved and used by the one-time "Public Enemy No. 1" to escape jail has sold for $19,120 at auction. The artifact was one of 11 items put up for bid Saturday by Dillinger's younger sister, Frances Helen Dillinger, at an Arms & Militaria auction at Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Heritage arms and militaria director Dennis Lowe says the notorious Depression-era bank robber supposedly used the item to bluff his way out of a Crown Point, Ind., jail on March 3, 1934… (It's a miracle that wooden replicas were not included in the National Firearms Act of 1934, which, in its initial version, would also have treated handguns like machine guns, suppressors and short-barrel rifles and shotgun. The deletion of handguns neglected to delete the phrase "any other weapon" that followed the mention of handguns, hence the registration requirement for such things as wallet holsters that allow a pistol to be fired while it is still concealed in the holster.)
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912120384
---
Tangentially Related: Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, says the Obama administration is stalling in providing information to the leaders of the House and Senate and the congressional intelligence committees on the multiple murders allegedly committed by a radical Muslim Army officer at Fort Hood more than a month ago. So far, the committee chairman and congressional leaders have received no detailed, substantive briefing on the event and what is known about its perpetrator… "It's now three and a half, four weeks later," said Hoekstra. "I would assume that in the last four weeks we've gathered lots of info that should be shared with the intelligence committees. There is a "lack of transparency here," Hoekstra said, and "it is unbelievable the material and the information that they're withholding from us, from the American people." Hoekstra said that a report on the Fort Hood incident had been delivered to President Obama two weeks ago…
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/58470
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