Comments in the ( ) by Stephen Wenger
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The Beat Goes On: People in Florida are fearful of the economic
future, and one way they are coping is by buying guns. The state
office that issues concealed weapons permits is buried under a backlog
of 95,000 applications, and doesn't have enough money in its budget to
do the job. A legislative budget panel is being asked to approve a
midyear budget transfer of nearly $4 million to catch up to the demand
for permits. ''People are getting scared,'' said Agriculture
Commissioner Charles Bronson. ``The economy is scaring them. They
don't want their houses broken into.'' Bronson's Cabinet agency
includes the Division of Licensing that processes weapons permit
applications. Figures released by Bronson's office show that it issued
75,679 permits in 2007 and 86,269 in 2008. Applications spiked
dramatically in December and January, with a 42 percent increase in
the past 1 ½ months. Overall, from fiscal 2003-04 to 2007-08, the
state saw a 91 percent increase in permit applications… (Strangely,
this article fails to mention Big Brother's election as a factor.)
http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/909557.html
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From GOA: It was a day that will live in infamy. President Obama
traveled to Denver, Colorado yesterday to sign the multi-billion
dollar, pork-laden, so-called "stimulus" bill into law. But forget the
$787 billion price tag you heard on TV. Forget the $12 TRILLION debt
limit which the bill created. By the time debt services and other
frills of the "socialism bill" are accounted for, the cost will be
over $3,000,000,000,000 (yes, three TRILLION). This makes the bill the
biggest government spending grab in human history. But what about the
details? The hundreds and hundreds of pages in the bill were not made
available until less than 18 hours before the final passage vote. But
here's what we know in relation to the gun-related provisions…
http://gunowners.org/a021809htm.htm
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New Hampshire Secession Resolution: New Hampshire state House
Representative Daniel Itse has stirred the political pot with his
bill, House Concurrent Resolution 6: "A RESOLUTION affirming States'
rights based on Jeffersonian principles", under which New Hampshire
would secede from the United States if the federal government attempts
additional usurpation of power under five specific circumstances,
including "Further infringements on the right to keep and bear arms
including prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition…" In
an interview with Alex Jones of infowars.com, Rep. Itse made
particular mention of a gun control bill HR 45: "Blair Holt's Firearm
Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009" as being an example of such
usurpation, noting that "if the government chooses to aggress in
nullifying the Constitution, it is impossible to secede from something
that doesn't exist." …
http://www.examiner.com/x-2698-Charlotte-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m2d16-Guns-and-the-Constitution-A-legislator-finally-gets-it
http://www.examiner.com/x-2698-Charlotte-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m2d18-Guns-and-the-Constitution-Rep-Itse-responds-to-readers-on-secession-bill
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Victory in Wisconsin: A West Allis municipal judge said a resident was
within his rights to carry a gun while planting a tree on his
property. Judge Paul Murphy found Brad Krause not guilty Tuesday of
disorderly conduct in a case that has drawn the interest of gun rights
advocates… "The big overarching issue is whether open carry is legal,"
Krause's attorney Steven Cain said. "The law in Wisconsin really only
limits concealed carry. The law in Wisconsin, as we see it, is that
open carry is absolutely legal, protected, and should be." Krause
declined to explain why he was carrying a gun to plant a tree.
"There's no requirement to justify why you're able to exercise
constitutional rights," Krause said. "I and everyone else are able to
go to church, they're able to vote, they're able to speak their mind.
Even though the city might not like it, we have that right." (While
this article emphasizes the fact that Krause was arrested on his own
property, an issue that will figure prominently in his civil suit, the
key issue at trial was the legality of open carry, in a state where
concealed carry is banned.)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WI_UNCONCEALED_WEAPON_VERDICT_WIOL-?SITE=WIMAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/39722082.html
http://www.cbs58.com/index.php?aid=6418&
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Support for Illinois CCW Bill: Illinois is one of just two states that
do not allow legal concealed carry of a firearm. A bill introduced
Jan. 20 by state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, would leave Wisconsin as
the last member of the Union to limit its residents' right to personal
protection. The Family and Personal Protection Act would establish a
permit program to allow citizens who undergo training, evaluation and
screening to carry a concealed firearm. The measure already has the
backing of the Illinois Sheriffs' Association (90 percent of sheriffs
responding to an ISA survey support concealed carry). It seems a
logical extension of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last year
regarding the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The right to
keep and bear arms is a defense against not only an organized,
potentially tyrannical government, but also against the forces of
chaos, i.e individual criminals intent on doing one harm. One should
have the right to be secure in his or her person outside the home as
well as in it…
Oregon Bill Would Establish CHL Confidentiality: House Reps Kim
Thatcher and Jeff Barker have introduced legislation to protect the
privacy of persons with concealed handgun licenses. OFF has been
working with legislators since prior to the session to get a bill
introduced that would stop the malicious abuse of the records of
license holders. The Medford Mail Tribune started seeking these
records after we assisted a Medford area teacher in her efforts to
have her employer stop denying her rights as a CHL holder. (That case
is currently on appeal.) The Tribune was attempting to get the names
and private information of other teachers in the area. (The Tribune
has editorialized against gun owners rights.) So far, the Sheriff has
refused to disclose this information and a lawsuit is ongoing. (The
court demanded that the Sheriff disclose the private information and
the Sheriff has appealed.) …
http://oregonfirearms.org/alertspage/02.18.09alert.html
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Utah Parking-Lot-Storage Bill: Gun-rights legislation inspired by an
incident in Ogden more than eight years ago will be debated in the
Utah Senate for the third year in a row after a committee approved it
Tuesday. The proposal from Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, would require
private employers to let employees keep personal firearms in their
vehicles while parked on company property. Madsen first brought the
bill forward in the 2007 legislative session in response to a 2000
incident at the former AOL call center in downtown Ogden. Three
employees at the business were fired in September 2000 after
exchanging rifles and pistols between their vehicles in the parking
lot. The employees said they were planning to practice at a shooting
range after work and sued AOL for wrongful termination. But the Utah
Supreme Court, in a July 2004 decision, upheld the company's right to
fire the employees…
http://www.standard.net/live/news/164694
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South Dakota House Passes Preemption Bill: The South Dakota House says
local governments should be barred from adopting ordinances
restricting possession of firearms. The House voted 46-20 on Tuesday
to pass HB1278, which prohibits townships, counties and cities from
adopting general restrictions on firearms. Supporters said the goal is
to make laws dealing with carrying firearms uniform across the state.
They said people with concealed weapons permits should be able to go
from one community to another without fear of violating a local law.
The House killed a proposed amendment to let local governments
restrict firearms if they posted areas as gun-free zones.
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6375.cfm?Id=0,80734
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Utah Rejects Ban on Out-of-State Instructors: Utah won't ban
out-of-state instructors from qualifying people for a concealed weapon
permit despite worries from the gun-rights community about abuses that
could erode the value of a Utah permit in other states. Rep. Curt Oda,
R-Clearfield, originally was going to push an outright prohibition,
but substituted his bill after speaking with lobbyists from the
National Rifle Association. Now, his HB204 creates a formal complaint
process to address issues with nonresident instructors. An instructor
who has complaints is entitled to a hearing, and if found guilty,
could lose his or her teaching license and concealed weapon permit for
up to seven years. Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting
Sports Council, worries states, such as Nevada, that have expressed
concerns about nonresident instructors may now stop accepting Utah's
permit… (Hmm. I suspect that the biggest source of out-of-state
instruction for Utah CFP's is Nevada's Front Sight Firearms Training
Institute.)
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11732646
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Tennessee State Senator Opposes Microstamping: The liberal blogosphere
is puzzling over Sen. Doug Jackson's bill to thwart basic police work
by banning the sale of guns that have been microstamped. We're talking
about new technology to link cartridge cases to guns by engraving
microscopic codes on the firing pin. It allows the matching of a spent
cartridge to a specific gun and provides one additional piece of
evidence for investigators to gather in building a criminal case.
Sounds reasonable, right? All the more cause to arouse the suspicions
of Second Amendment champions like Jackson. Last year, you will
doubtlessly recall, he was lampooned on the Colbert Report for his
bill to let people go strapped into saloons. Now, he's back in
Nashville tirelessly defending our God-given rights, this time against
anyone who might try to etch something with a laser onto one of our
weapons. Why is Jackson against making it easier for police to catch
criminals who shoot people? He thinks it could lead to the dreaded
national gun registry that every law-abiding gun owner lies awake
nights fretting about…
http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/2009/02/why_sen_jackson_opposes_gun_mi.php
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Tennessee State Representative on Permit Confidentiality: Recently the
Commercial Appeal, a Memphis-based newspaper, published the list of
handgun carry permit holders in an easily searchable online database.
Not surprisingly, Tennesseans across the state were outraged and
expressed this, calling their lawmakers' offices and demanding action…
The Commercial Appeal's desire to make this list public intrigued me.
What was their reasoning behind publishing it? Perhaps there was a
perfectly good explanation that just escaped me. Then, in this week's
Sunday edition of the paper, the CA responded to the criticism and
defended their action. The arguments were weak, even flawed. From the
editorial, it seems as though one goal was to cast suspicion on the
legal, responsible gun owners of this state. The paper states: "A
school official, concerned about whether teachers were bringing guns
onto school grounds, might check the list to see whether anyone on the
staff has a permit to carry, and then have a discussion about it."
That the Commercial Appeal would encourage a school official to target
teachers who are legal gun owners is disconcerting…
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_144969.asp
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Longenecker versus L.A. Times: In response to the Los Angeles Times'
Editorial of February 17, 2009, {Under The Gun] the Times takes the
anti-gun, anti-liberty position of infringement by suggesting that the
Orange County Board Of Supervisors back the Sheriff in her review of
concealed weapon permits in compelling citizens to show cause. What
the Editorial Board overlooks is how their urging reinforces the very
unwelcome public perception of siege mentality of law enforcement, the
good ole' boy network of politicians and, of course, the Code Of
Silence. The Times summons precisely what citizens are getting sick of
tolerating…
Kalashnikov Acknowledges Help from Schmeisser: Famous Soviet arms
builder Mihail Kalasnikov recently acknowledged he didn't worked alone
at the design and development of the AK-47 assault rifle, but he
benefited from the help of Hugo Schmeisser, the most prolific small
arms inventor of the Third Reich. Kalashnikov and Schmeisser meet each
other at the small arms factory of Izhevsk, writes Life.ru as quoted
by Agerpress, the Romanian national news agency. According to the
Russian historian Aleksei Korobeinikov, Schmeisser arrived in Ijhevsk
immediately after the war. The city of Suhl, Schmeisser's hometown in
defeated Germany, was situated in the Soviet occupation zone.
Schmeisser and another couple of dozens German small arms specialists
received from the Soviet occupiers an offer they "couldn't refuse": to
work at a Soviet small arms factory in the Urals. How the Soviets were
making these types of "generous offers" after the war isn't a secret
for anyone anymore. So as a result of the Soviet "proposal" a train
with German specialists arrived at Izhevs on October 24th 1946.
Together with Schmeisser and his colleagues, the train carried all the
blue prints and plans the Soviets could grab from their occupation
zone. Truth be told, the Western Allies did exactly the same thing…
http://transsylvaniaphoenix.blogspot.com/2009/02/michail-kalashnikov-admits-german-help.html
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Tangentially Related: Crime laboratories around the country are
grossly underfunded, lack a scientific foundation and are compromised
by critical delays in analyzing physical evidence, according to a
broad study of forensic techniques published Wednesday by the National
Academy of Sciences, the nation's premier scientific body. Among its
many criticisms, the study counted a backlog of 359,000 requests for
forensic analysis in 2005, a 24 percent increase in delays since 2002.
A survey of crime laboratories found 80 percent of them to be
understaffed. A new federal agency is needed to regulate these
laboratories, standardize forensic techniques and pay for research,
according to the report, which was financed by Congress in 2005…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19forensics.html?_r=1&ref=washington
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