From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
----------------------------
Kerry Calls for Import Ban: … Kerry called for a ban on the imports of assault rifles, such as the AK-47, into the United States. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., opposed the idea. Assault rifles bought in the United States are favorites among cartel gunmen, who find them effective for the urban warfare, William McMahon, deputy assistant director of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told the committee. ATF agents have traced many guns confiscated in Mexico to purchases in the United States, McMahon said. For example, more than 60 guns seized following a shootout among factions of the Tijuana cartel in April 2008 were traced to purchases in Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Denver, McMahon said… (It would only take an executive order to block import of firearms and ammunition from Russia. Will Big Brother tip his hand?)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6350856.html
Kerry's Script?: … "With the stroke of a pen President Obama could immediately stop tens of thousands of foreign-made assault rifles from being dumped onto the U.S. market. These cheap military-style guns, mostly AK-47 variants, are not only being smuggled from the U.S. to Mexico, but are also killing police officers in the United States from Oakland to Miami," stated VPC Senior Policy Analyst and study author Tom Diaz…
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-31-2009/0004997984&EDATE=
---
The Mexican Drug-Gang Lie: "There is an iron river of guns that flows South into Mexico [from the United States] to supply criminal organizations on the border," says Tom Mangan, senior special agent with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Phoenix. "They are in the market for machine guns, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles," he continues. That's right. The drug gangs can't buy that and other military stuff like the 40MM grenades (the silver things in the upper left) and the rifles with launchers shown in the photo below in Mexico, so they drive to the United States and purchase them from American gun dealers at retail. Isn't that the story you've been told? Well, congratulations. America's First Amendment protected propaganda ministry has punked you on another important issue — this time on behalf of dissembling officials and gun confiscation advocates…
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dgifford/2009/03/31/the-america-is-arming-mexicos-drug-gangs-lie/#more-93206
… To be sure, some criminal actors in the U.S. are smuggling small arms across the border. But the drug war in Mexico is not being fought with Saturday night specials, hobby rifles and hunting shotguns. The drug trafficking organizations are now in possession of high-powered munitions in vast quantities that can't be explained by the gun-show loophole… Narco News, in a report last December ["Juarez murders shine a light on an emerging Military Cartel"] also examined the increasing militarization of narco-trafficking groups in Mexico and pointed out that U.S. military-issued ammunition popped up in an arms cache seized in Reynosa, Mexico, in November 2008 that was linked to the Zetas, a mercenary group that provides enforcement services to Mexican narco-trafficking organizations. So where are these military-grade weapons really coming from? … Given Mexico's strict gun laws with respect to private individuals, it is likely most of the DCS program defense hardware approved for export to that nation was directed toward the military or law enforcement agencies. But it is precisely that fact which should be raising some alarm in Washington…
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2009/03/legal-us-arms-exports-may-be-source-narco-syndicates-rising-firepower
Backdoor Attack on the RKBA: …Here is how the logic goes: Drug cartels are coming into the United States and buying "assault" weapons. If we would outlaw the legal sale of these guns to American citizens the problem would disappear! You see, the Democrat logic goes, the reason there's drug violence on the Mexican border isn't corruption in Mexico, lack of enforcement of our existing gun laws, or an ability to control our nation's boundaries. The reason is that you and I have the right to own a weapon that could be used to protect our home and family in a time of national crisis. Let's take a minute here and test your critical thinking skills. Ready? Here are some of Ms. Lowey's statements. I may be paraphrasing them a bit as I was trying to write them down while continuing to watch the interview without the help of my DVR, but I believe I've captured them fairly accurately…
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/03/31/backdoor-ing-the-second-amendment/#more-92594
---
Mexico's Gun Store: There is one gun store in Mexico. And it serves a very select clientele. The store is run by the Mexican army and occupies two rooms in a heavily guarded building near the army's headquarters in Mexico City. To shop here, customers need a permit that can take months to get. And once they buy a gun, there are limits on how much ammunition they can buy each month, where they can take the gun, who they can sell it to. To shoppers here, the irony is clear: Mexico has some of the toughest gun-control laws in the world, yet the country's drug cartels are armed to the teeth with high-powered illegal weapons because guns are so easy to buy in the United States and smuggle over the border. "If the United States had a system like ours, we wouldn't have so many problems here in Mexico," Agustin Villordo, 27, of Puebla, Mexico, said Tuesday as he shopped for a hunting rifle… (It is a longstanding Mexican tradition to blame the US for the effects of its own corruption.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/04/01/20090401onegunstore0401.html
Mexico's Gun Laws:
http://www.panda.com/mexicoguns/
---
The Beat Goes On: Reports from across the country confirm that gun owners seeking to stock up on ammunition are facing the same list of problems: shortages, back orders, elevated prices and a long line of people staring at empty shelves where boxes of bullets used to be. "Just about everywhere I've been, it's sold out," Darren Lauzon told KMGH-TV in Denver after he failed to find ammunition for his new .45 pistol. "Wal-Mart, Sportsman's, wherever." "Folks have been experiencing shortages all over the country," a spokesman for the National Rifle Association told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat in California. "Since the election there has been a great increase in firearms sales as well. Background checks are up, enrollment in training and safety classes is up, concealed weapons permits are up, gun sales are up – and ammo manufacturers can't keep up with demand." …
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=93483
… These big gun sales are frightening anti gun groups. One high official in the Brady organization recently said that he wondered what sacrifices to the family were made because of family gun purchases made during the "insane" increases in gun sales. The Bradys all need get a grip on reality, get real jobs, and stop their bottom feeding frenzy. The purchases are part of both financial and personal protection for the family. They are better than money in the bank. Could it be that the Bradys are part of the actual creation of this Brady described "insanity?" Originally, the Bradys "worried" about guns. Now they want to be family financial and mental health counselors. They believe gun owners are insane. The Bradys actually say it for the first time now…
http://secondamendmentfreedom.blogspot.com/2009/03/unintended-consequences-of-gun-control.html
As I was walking through the ammunition aisle at my local Bass Pro Shops, I muttered to the man standing next to me how disappointingly empty the shelves were. "Not as bad as last week," he said. I shouldn't have been surprised. Back in February, Cabelas, a publicly-traded outdoor outfitter saw its stock go up 35% in one day when earnings blew away estimates because of very strong "sales of firearms and related accessories." If President Obama has stimulated anything in America, it is demand for guns and ammunition. According to Rich Wyatt, the voluble and intense owner of Gunsmoke - a firearms shop and training facility just outside Denver - "If I had known it would be this good in the gun business, I might have voted for Obama." …
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31268
---
Crime Shows Ignore Real Crime: The US Department of Justice released a very important report in January, but it got little attention. The report found that 80 percent of crime in the US was gang related and that the vast majority of that was drug related. Those of us who have worked with crime data have long understood this problem. For example, 50 percent of counties in the US have zero murders in any given year and another 25 percent have just one murder. Over 70 percent of murders take place in just a little over 3 percent of the counties, but even that exaggerates the picture because anyone who has seen a picture of murders in a major city know how heavily concentrated they are in specific areas within the city…
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jlott/2009/03/24/something-to-remember-the-next-time-that-you-watch-a-crime-show-on-tv/
---
Open-Carry Bill Killed in Arkansas: House committee has rejected a measure that would have allowed people 21 and older to openly carry handguns in holsters. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday rejected the proposal by Rep. Mark Martin of Prairie Grove. Martin argued that dozens of states permit the open carry of weapons, and that lawmakers should trust gun owners to use and display the firearms responsibly. But members questioned why Martin's bill didn't include a required license or coursework, like the state's concealed-carry license does. The bill failed on a voice vote.
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=113657.54928.125802
---
Tennessee Bill for Limited Campus Carry: Handguns could find their way onto Tennessee college campuses - legally - under one of the latest gun bills coming before the General Assembly. State Rep. Stacey Campfield's proposal, scheduled for a hearing Wednesday before a House Judiciary subcommittee, would allow any full-time faculty and staff member with a valid permit to bring a handgun onto their public college campus. "By banning guns on campus you are not banning the criminals," the Knoxville Republican said Monday. "All you are banning is the people from being able to defend themselves." But University of Tennessee officials worry about the effect. "Based on input of our law enforcement officials and people who we think know best how to provide safety on a campus, we don't think it is a good idea," UT vice president Hank Dye said. "We think it could open the door to a lot of things that are detrimental to general safety." … (When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.)
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9012811
---
Poll Claims Utahns Oppose Recent RKBA Expansions: Utah legislators appear to have missed the will of the people on two gun bills that passed this session, giving overwhelming support to both measures while a recent poll of voters shows clear opposition to the changes. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. sided with the Legislature Monday, signing both new statutes into law. The two bills, HB357 and SB78, make changes to current gun laws to allow loaded firearms to be carried in vehicles without the necessity of a concealed weapons permit, and require businesses to allow loaded firearms in vehicles parked on their property, or, in lieu of that, provide for secure storage of firearms. Both bills garnered more than 80-percent approval among Utah legislators. When Utah voters were asked to weigh in on the bills, a much different picture emerged…
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705294212/Utahns-oppose-new-gun-laws-poll-shows.html
---
No Logic in Virginia Vetoes: … Unfortunately, this past week, Mr. "strong Second Amendment supporter" Kaine vetoed all five pro-self-defense bills sent to his desk. His intransigence endangers public safety. Hopefully, the General Assembly's veto-override session, which starts today, can correct those mistakes… Yet Mr. Kaine keeps repeating the mindless, inapplicable slogan "Guns and alcohol don't mix." More than 30 right-to-carry states around the nation allow law-abiding citizens - not just retired police with 10 years' experience - to carry permitted concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol. There is no evidence of any problems. Yet when asked, Mr. Kaine's press office told The Times that "it is irrelevant what is the evidence in any other state. This is Virginia, and that is all the governor cares about." Despite repeated requests for evidence, none was given. When The Times offered to give the governor's office more time to find evidence for the Mr. Kaine's position, the press office said there was "no reason to check" if there was evidence…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/01/anti-reason-on-guns-kaine-vetoes-five-bills-despit/
---
No Logic on DC Council: … Mendelson thinks D.C. residents deserve a vote in Congress, but not a firearm in their homes. Why? You're not going to believe this: because giving citizens the right to protect themselves would "disadvantage the right of individuals to be protected by the police ..." I'll repeat that, so you can fully appreciate the lunacy that passes for policy in Washington. Councilman Phil Mendelson says the Second Amendment shouldn't apply to D.C. residents because it would "disadvantage the right of individuals to be protected by the police ..." Mendelson says obeying the Supreme Court would hamper public safety. "It would be harder to arrest chronic criminals, because police would no longer be able to charge them with possessing unregistered weapons," Mendelson wrote. That's nuts. Police can arrest any felon in possession of a gun- that's good for five to ten years in prison. And if they're "chronic criminals" - and believe me, D.C. is teeming with them - why not arrest them for the crimes they've chronically committed? …
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=509
---
Tangentially Related: Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional, according to sources briefed on the issue. But Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who supports the measure, ordered up a second opinion from other lawyers in his department and determined that the legislation would pass muster. A finding that the voting rights bill runs afoul of the Constitution could complicate an upcoming House vote and make the measure more vulnerable to a legal challenge that probably would reach the Supreme Court if it is enacted. The bill, which would give the District a vote in the House for the first time, appeared to be on the verge of passing last month before stalling when pro-gun legislators tried to attach an amendment weakening city gun laws. Supporters say it could reach the House floor in May…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033104426.html?hpid=topnews
---
Atlanta's Gun-Free Zones Not Gun-Free: Atlanta's gun free zones are not free of guns or violent crime. Georgia has one of the toughest laws in the country when it comes to banning guns from school property. The law creates what it calls the "school safety zone," an area of 1,000 feet surrounding any school, including universities and adult technical schools, where it is a felony punishable by ten years in prison to possess a firearm or other weapon. So why do armed and violent criminals keep striking near Georgia schools? In just the last couple of weeks, Atlanta's prominent engineering university, Georgia Tech, has experienced five robberies of its students, who are disarmed by law within 1,000 feet of campus…
http://www.examiner.com/x-5619-Atlanta-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d30-Atlantas-gun-free-zones-are-not-free-of-guns
