From: Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info>
comments by the ()
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comments by the ()
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Hidden in the Treaty: Having backed off - for now - from the politically difficult push for a ban of so-called "assault weapons," President Obama hopes to assuage Mexican President Felipe Calderón's disappointment with a promise to push the Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and other Related Materials, a treaty signed in 1997, but never ratified in the U.S… I can only assume that this would mandate that anyone who reloads ammunition to save money (and rather a lot of it, given today's ammo prices) acquire a government issued license to do so. What about people who purchase incomplete firearms frames, treated under current U.S. law as inert hunks of metal, and complete the firearm themselves? Would that now require licensing? It certainly seems so. Unacceptable. The larger issue, of course, is that suddenly that which shall not be infringed would become subject to international regulation, and as restrictive as gun laws in the U.S. have become, they're still not draconian enough for the tastes of much of the rest of the world. That's their problem, and it needs to remain their problem.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Senate-must-reject-InterAmerican-Arms-Treaty
Related Commentary:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Obama-using-treaties-with-foreign-powers-to-enact-domestic-gun-control
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Feds Will Not Appeal Park-Carry Ruling: The Obama administration says it will not appeal a federal court ruling that prohibits carrying loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. Instead, the Interior Department says it will conduct a full environmental review of an earlier policy that allowed concealed, loaded guns in parks and refuges. A federal judge struck down the gun policy last month. The judge said the policy, issued in the waning days of the Bush administration, was severely flawed and that officials failed to evaluate the possible environmental impacts of the rule change. The judge set an April 20 deadline for the Interior Department to indicate its likely response to her ruling. (This is essentially what I predicted – Big Brother will let the courts take the heat for reversing the NPS rule change. I hold no great hopes for the environmental-impact reports.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/18/interior-review-guns-parks-policy/
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FactCheck.org on the 90% Lie: There's no dispute that thousands of handguns, military style rifles and other firearms are purchased in the U.S. and end up in the hands of Mexican criminals each year. It's relatively easy to buy such guns legally in Texas and other border states and to smuggle them across. But is it true as President Obama said, that "More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States?" No, it's not. The figure represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials. We can find no hard data on the total number of guns actually "recovered in Mexico," but U.S. and Mexican officials both say that Mexico recovers more guns than it submits for tracing. Therefore, the percentage of guns "recovered" and traced to U.S. sources necessarily is less than 90 percent… (FactCheck.org tends to lean toward the left. Absent from this discussion is how many firearms traceable to the US were actually provided to Mexico as military aid.)
http://www.factcheck.org/politics/counting_mexicos_guns.html
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The Beat Goes On: To hear the partisan press, gun prohibitionists and even some in law enforcement tell it, rightwing paranoia about the economy, a Democrat-controlled Congress and an Obama White House is fueling the proverbial land office business in guns and ammunition. Two fairly well-balanced pieces in the Seattle Times and the on-line Seattle Post-Intelligencer provide good contrast to some of the other screed that has substituted lately for journalism – the greatest offender being that ABC 20/20 hit piece by Diane Sawyer on April 10 – and both local stories have been revealing. Combined with coverage of State Sen. Tim Sheldon's on-point observations several days ago about citizens taking care of themselves in an environment of law enforcement cutbacks, instead of questioning why so many people are buying guns, the more logical query would be, "Why aren't more people arming themselves?" …
http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Paranoia-not-fueling-gun-sales-its-the-other-way-around
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2009073302&zsection_id=2003925728&slug=gunsurge17m&date=20090417
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_041709WAB-handgun-applications-LJ.e33bfaf5.html?rss
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Bloomberg's Deal with a Gunrunner: David P. Winfield was just the kind of gun trafficker that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been trying to drive from the city's streets. He was arrested in 2005 and accused of using his wife and others as "straw buyers" to acquire more than two dozen sawed-off shotguns, semiautomatic pistols and rifles in Virginia, most of their serial numbers obliterated, and selling them for thousands of dollars in New York City. He faced up to five years in prison if convicted. But when federal prosecutors rejected his bid for a deal in which he would plead guilty and assist them in return for a lesser sentence, his lawyers took an unusual step: They offered his services to the Bloomberg administration, which had sued gun dealers in Virginia and other states because their illegal weapons were ending up on the streets of New York…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/nyregion/18guns.html?ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all
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Arizona Gun Shops, Gun Shows Faulted: It seemed a fortuitous alignment of justice and politics, George Iknadosian's trial beginning just as President Obama called for new attention to the flow of weapons from the United States to the drug cartels inside Mexico. The Phoenix gun dealer stood charged with selling hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles and pistols, and the case appeared airtight: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had secret recordings, confessed confederates and a list of weapons traced from Mexican shootouts to X-Caliber Guns, Iknadosian's shop here on Cave Creek Road. But on March 18, before the prosecution had rested, a Maricopa County judge ordered the defendant freed. And what seemed a showcase for Washington's vigorous new campaign against gun trafficking instead became a reminder of the bedrock reality challenging the effort: This is gun country… (I predict that the Allerd family will be receiving an unfriendly visit from agents of the BATFE; if they are offering to procure specific firearms for sale, they probably don't qualify as selling from their private collection. Pinetop, by the way, is just up the road from me.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041800753.html?hpid=topnews
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Alaska House Approves Firearms Freedom Act: On the same day they rejected an attorney general designee who is a board member of the National Rifle Association, members of the state House on Thursday approved a bill exempting guns and ammunition manufactured and kept within Alaska from federal firearms regulation. House members voted to reject Gov. Sarah Palin's nominee to head the Department of Law, Wayne Anthony Ross, but voted 32-7 in favor of the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act, which would apply to firearms built, sold and kept in Alaska. Critics denounced the bill as unconstitutional. They say it's a threat to Alaskans who act on the measure and face federal prosecution. Prime sponsor Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, attracted 10 co-sponsors and said the bill is both a measure to allow manufacture of guns and a statement that Alaska intends to reclaim some of its rights. Alaska has seen rights eroded in the oversight of navigable waters, fish and game, and access to natural resources, Kelly said, but can reclaim rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment… (It would be one thing to call the bill irresponsible, if one thought it could expose innocent people to federal prosecution, but I don't see how one can argue that it is unconstitutional.)
http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20090416/430052778.shtml
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Press Distorts Defensive Gun Use: There's nothing like a justifiable homicide to bring out the bigotry resting in the heart of Old Media reporters. Last week, Demario Brown, on the run from police, held up two women at gunpoint and forced them into the house they were visiting, and then held two additional victims at gunpoint while demanding money he claimed was stolen from him. Then things began to go wrong for Mr. Brown as one of the victims, Timothy King, fought back with his own gun. In the exchange of fire, Mr. Brown was fatally wounded, ran out of the house and collapsed a short distance away. Even though one article's title was accurately stated as "Robbery suspect shot dead by intended victim," North Charleston's Live 5 News still chose the "concerned neighbor" gambit to condemn the shooting…
http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Armed-hero-saves-4-lives-during-home-invasion-robbery
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Oops, Wrong Family: A local woman's act of self-defense might have saved her life and the lives of four family members, the Winter Haven Police Department reported. According to police, a Winter Haven man who threatened early Tuesday to shoot and kill members of his family instead was shot by his wife. The man, 34-year-old Troy A. Christoff, was treated for multiple gunshot wounds at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, according to a police report. He was charged with five counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and, after being released from the hospital under police custody, was booked without bond into the Polk County Jail in Bartow… Witness statements and an examination of physical evidence indicate that Troy Christoff intended to shoot several members of his family who lived with him, according to the police report. Prior to the shooting, he had armed himself with a handgun and begun to load the weapon, stating which member of his family each bullet was intended for…
http://www.newschief.com/article/20090414/NEWS/904149993/1003/NEWS?Title=Wife-shoots-husband-in-self-defense-Winter-Haven-police-say
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Oops, Wrong Apartment, California Version: Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies said they responded to the scene of a home invasion where the home owner opened fire on the thieves. Deputies said a man reported four men kicked in the door at an apartment on Ethan Way near Arden Fair Mall. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies said they responded to the scene of a home invasion where the home owner opened fire on the thieves. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies said they responded to the scene of a home invasion where the home owner opened fire on the thieves. Deputies said a man reported four men kicked in the door at an apartment on Ethan Way near Arden Fair Mall. Deputies said a man reported four men kicked in the door at an apartment on Ethan Way near Arden Fair Mall. (These were not thieves or burglars – they were robbers.)
http://www.kcra.com/news/19184363/detail.html
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Oops, Wrong Apartment, Texas Version: A 26-year-old woman fatally shot a man who lived in her Red Bird apartment complex and broke into her unit Tuesday night, Dallas police said. Two women were inside their apartment in the 8000 block of Leigh Ann Drive, which is just north of Danieldale Park and Interstate 20, when the 55-year-old man knocked on the door about 11 p.m, police said. One of the women called police as the man tried to get inside, and the other woman shot him as he entered, causing him to stumble out the door and collapse in the grass, police said…
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090415_wz_fatalbreakin.d8e909e4.html
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Oops, Wrong House: When Christopher Duhan kicked open the back door of a Seabrook residence to commit a Monday afternoon burglary, he was met by the lady of the house who chased him off with her handgun, according to police. Duhan, 28, of 147 Ashworth Ave., Hampton Beach, was arraigned Tuesday in Portsmouth District Court on a felony count of burglary. According to an affidavit by officer Scott Mendes, Seabrook patrol officers were dispatched to a B Street residence at 12:30 p.m. Monday, for an "active" daytime burglary. The homeowner told police she was about to take a shower when she heard "loud crashing," so she grabbed her pistol and came face-to-face with the intruder, who she recognized as Duhan, a drug-dependent friend of a family member, according to court documents. Gun in hand, the homeowner told Duhan she was calling the police before he fled across Route 1, police allege. Based on a clothing and vehicle description, Seabrook police arrested Duhan at a Hampton hotel where he has been residing, according to the affidavit…
http://seacoastonline.com/articles/20090415-NEWS-904150366
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Oops, Wrong Pharmacy: This link is strictly a video (no text). Judge for yourself the wisdom of the pharmacist in searching for the robber inside the pharmacy once the robbery appeared to have been completed. The big question, in my mind, was whether the robber still posed a threat to innocent parties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfMZVRoODDc
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Phil Spector Had History of Mishandling Firearms: …In some circles, Mr. Spector's disregard for gun safety was as legendary as his productions. He greeted guests at his home wearing a .38 in a shoulder holster. In 1972, he was arrested in Beverly Hills for pointing a gun at a woman; charged with carrying a concealed weapon and a loaded firearm in a public place, he paid a $200 fine and was placed on one year's probation. Three years later, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after he aimed a gun in the face of a valet at the Beverly Hills Hotel. During his two trials for Ms. Clarkson's murder, the first of which ended in a deadlocked jury in 2007, five women testified that Mr. Spector threatened them at gunpoint…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123983464573522639.html#mod=djem_we
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Canada Requests Sexual History for Gun Permit: …Pierre Lemieux is an economist whose most recent book, Comprendre l'économie, just won the prestigious Prix Turgot in Paris. When it comes to guns, he's a hobbyist, not a lobbyist, but in his spare time he has been trying to make the authorities comprehend something about the relationship between public safety and his love life. Not because he thinks there's a nexus, but because the government does. Before renewing his gun permit in 2007, the authorities decided to inquire into Lemieux's bedroom history. Did he divorce anyone in the last two years? Did he break up with a girlfriend? If yes, use a separate sheet to explain…
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/04/15/george-jonas-want-a-gun-permit-tell-us-about-your-sex-life.aspx
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Department Experiences Problems with G22 Magazines: The Milwaukee Police Department found that there is a serious problem with its guns. Officer Vidal Colon was injured over the weekend in a shootout, in which his gun jammed. The police chief has known about the problem for a year, but he is now taking immediate action following Saturday's shooting. The chief sent a memo to the entire police department about the weapon problem… But, the memo to the department revealed that the problem could be with the gun itself. "We had experienced a number of issues on the range with our issued Glock model 22, .40 caliber duty pistol magazines, which represents 45 percent of our issued weapons," said Flynn in the memo. The chief became aware of the problem in January 2008. Since then, "Glock has replaced 2,700 pistol magazines at no cost to the Milwaukee Police Department," said Flynn in the memo… (So the magazine exchange was not done on an urgent basis because the problem had only been observed on the range. Even in a department that only requires "qualification" once a year, wouldn't virtually every officer fire more rounds on the range than on the street?)
http://www.wisn.com/news/19203902/detail.html?treets=mil&tid=2659196343813&tml=mil_12pm&tmi=mil_12pm_1_12000104172009&ts=H
G22's Have Had Numerous Problems in Law Enforcement: We hosted the Glock armorer course and instructor workshop at our range over the past week (very cool to have THE Dennis Tueller as the instructor). We just got our shipment of Glock 22s in last Friday, and the ammo in on Monday (CCI Blazer and Gold Dot 165gr), we were also planning on deploying the M3X lights for our new guns for the tac and K9 guys (we previously issued the S&W TSW and the M3 lights). In live fire we quickly figured out that the combo of a G22, 165gr ammo (especially the Gold Dot) and the mounted lights leads to a nasty feed ramp/front of mag nose dive stoppage. It's not a limp wrist issue, in fact it's the opposite. I could really limp wrist the gun and it would work, when one gets on the gun like one should it's instant choke. I believe that the .40 and .357 Sig Glocks are under sprung recoil spring wise, and that the round is cycling the slide so fast that the mag spring can't keep up. I'm not hold my breath that Herr Glock takes my suggestion and comes up with a recoil spring just for the .40/.357s. I should note that a couple of our guns weren't 100% even without lights, but that could have been new gun issues, although they would be the first Glocks I've seen need a break in… (From an eleven-page thread on Evan Marshall's Stopping Power Forums; this thread has run for two years. Based on my observation and experience, I believe that the "limp-wristing" phenomenon is actually a matter of letting the finger fly off the trigger when the pistol is fired; this sympathetically relaxes the remaining fingers of the gun hand. The cure is the trigger reset or "catching the link," as John Farnam call it. This tends to keep the trigger pressed into the frame until the gun starts its return from recoil.)
http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11118
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Copper Prices Rebound: After a year of eye-popping profits in the copper industry that gave way to massive losses and layoffs, it appears 2009 may bring stability. While nowhere near the record-breaking prices that copper producers enjoyed last summer - when prices soared above $4 a pound - the price of copper has steadily ascended this year… In the past 60 days, copper prices have risen from around $1.40 per pound to $2.18 on Thursday… (As noted yesterday, copper is a crucial component for most ammuntion.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/289062
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Right Wing Extremists: …My fellow Patriot "right-wing extremists" (or as Barack Obama prefers to describe you, those "bitterly clinging to guns or religion"), it is no small irony that, in the same week the central government demands payment of any income tax they hadn't already withheld (read: "pilfered") from our paychecks for redistribution, we observe Patriots Day. April 19th marks the 234th anniversary of the early morning ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes to Concord, Massachusetts, in order to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that British troops were coming to arrest them and seize their weapons. Revere was captured but Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who had joined them along the way, escaped and continued toward Concord. Dawes later fell from his horse, but Prescott, who knew the area well enough to navigate at night, made it to Concord in time to warn the Sons of Liberty…
http://www.patriotpost.us/
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NRA-ILA Alerts: List members are encouraged to check the alerts for the week, posted on the NRA-ILA website.
http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx
http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Senate-must-reject-InterAmerican-Arms-Treaty
Related Commentary:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Obama-using-treaties-with-foreign-powers-to-enact-domestic-gun-control
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Feds Will Not Appeal Park-Carry Ruling: The Obama administration says it will not appeal a federal court ruling that prohibits carrying loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. Instead, the Interior Department says it will conduct a full environmental review of an earlier policy that allowed concealed, loaded guns in parks and refuges. A federal judge struck down the gun policy last month. The judge said the policy, issued in the waning days of the Bush administration, was severely flawed and that officials failed to evaluate the possible environmental impacts of the rule change. The judge set an April 20 deadline for the Interior Department to indicate its likely response to her ruling. (This is essentially what I predicted – Big Brother will let the courts take the heat for reversing the NPS rule change. I hold no great hopes for the environmental-impact reports.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/18/interior-review-guns-parks-policy/
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FactCheck.org on the 90% Lie: There's no dispute that thousands of handguns, military style rifles and other firearms are purchased in the U.S. and end up in the hands of Mexican criminals each year. It's relatively easy to buy such guns legally in Texas and other border states and to smuggle them across. But is it true as President Obama said, that "More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States?" No, it's not. The figure represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials. We can find no hard data on the total number of guns actually "recovered in Mexico," but U.S. and Mexican officials both say that Mexico recovers more guns than it submits for tracing. Therefore, the percentage of guns "recovered" and traced to U.S. sources necessarily is less than 90 percent… (FactCheck.org tends to lean toward the left. Absent from this discussion is how many firearms traceable to the US were actually provided to Mexico as military aid.)
http://www.factcheck.org/politics/counting_mexicos_guns.html
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The Beat Goes On: To hear the partisan press, gun prohibitionists and even some in law enforcement tell it, rightwing paranoia about the economy, a Democrat-controlled Congress and an Obama White House is fueling the proverbial land office business in guns and ammunition. Two fairly well-balanced pieces in the Seattle Times and the on-line Seattle Post-Intelligencer provide good contrast to some of the other screed that has substituted lately for journalism – the greatest offender being that ABC 20/20 hit piece by Diane Sawyer on April 10 – and both local stories have been revealing. Combined with coverage of State Sen. Tim Sheldon's on-point observations several days ago about citizens taking care of themselves in an environment of law enforcement cutbacks, instead of questioning why so many people are buying guns, the more logical query would be, "Why aren't more people arming themselves?" …
http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Paranoia-not-fueling-gun-sales-its-the-other-way-around
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2009073302&zsection_id=2003925728&slug=gunsurge17m&date=20090417
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_041709WAB-handgun-applications-LJ.e33bfaf5.html?rss
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Bloomberg's Deal with a Gunrunner: David P. Winfield was just the kind of gun trafficker that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been trying to drive from the city's streets. He was arrested in 2005 and accused of using his wife and others as "straw buyers" to acquire more than two dozen sawed-off shotguns, semiautomatic pistols and rifles in Virginia, most of their serial numbers obliterated, and selling them for thousands of dollars in New York City. He faced up to five years in prison if convicted. But when federal prosecutors rejected his bid for a deal in which he would plead guilty and assist them in return for a lesser sentence, his lawyers took an unusual step: They offered his services to the Bloomberg administration, which had sued gun dealers in Virginia and other states because their illegal weapons were ending up on the streets of New York…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/nyregion/18guns.html?ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all
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Arizona Gun Shops, Gun Shows Faulted: It seemed a fortuitous alignment of justice and politics, George Iknadosian's trial beginning just as President Obama called for new attention to the flow of weapons from the United States to the drug cartels inside Mexico. The Phoenix gun dealer stood charged with selling hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles and pistols, and the case appeared airtight: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had secret recordings, confessed confederates and a list of weapons traced from Mexican shootouts to X-Caliber Guns, Iknadosian's shop here on Cave Creek Road. But on March 18, before the prosecution had rested, a Maricopa County judge ordered the defendant freed. And what seemed a showcase for Washington's vigorous new campaign against gun trafficking instead became a reminder of the bedrock reality challenging the effort: This is gun country… (I predict that the Allerd family will be receiving an unfriendly visit from agents of the BATFE; if they are offering to procure specific firearms for sale, they probably don't qualify as selling from their private collection. Pinetop, by the way, is just up the road from me.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041800753.html?hpid=topnews
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Alaska House Approves Firearms Freedom Act: On the same day they rejected an attorney general designee who is a board member of the National Rifle Association, members of the state House on Thursday approved a bill exempting guns and ammunition manufactured and kept within Alaska from federal firearms regulation. House members voted to reject Gov. Sarah Palin's nominee to head the Department of Law, Wayne Anthony Ross, but voted 32-7 in favor of the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act, which would apply to firearms built, sold and kept in Alaska. Critics denounced the bill as unconstitutional. They say it's a threat to Alaskans who act on the measure and face federal prosecution. Prime sponsor Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, attracted 10 co-sponsors and said the bill is both a measure to allow manufacture of guns and a statement that Alaska intends to reclaim some of its rights. Alaska has seen rights eroded in the oversight of navigable waters, fish and game, and access to natural resources, Kelly said, but can reclaim rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment… (It would be one thing to call the bill irresponsible, if one thought it could expose innocent people to federal prosecution, but I don't see how one can argue that it is unconstitutional.)
http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20090416/430052778.shtml
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Press Distorts Defensive Gun Use: There's nothing like a justifiable homicide to bring out the bigotry resting in the heart of Old Media reporters. Last week, Demario Brown, on the run from police, held up two women at gunpoint and forced them into the house they were visiting, and then held two additional victims at gunpoint while demanding money he claimed was stolen from him. Then things began to go wrong for Mr. Brown as one of the victims, Timothy King, fought back with his own gun. In the exchange of fire, Mr. Brown was fatally wounded, ran out of the house and collapsed a short distance away. Even though one article's title was accurately stated as "Robbery suspect shot dead by intended victim," North Charleston's Live 5 News still chose the "concerned neighbor" gambit to condemn the shooting…
http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d17-Armed-hero-saves-4-lives-during-home-invasion-robbery
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Oops, Wrong Family: A local woman's act of self-defense might have saved her life and the lives of four family members, the Winter Haven Police Department reported. According to police, a Winter Haven man who threatened early Tuesday to shoot and kill members of his family instead was shot by his wife. The man, 34-year-old Troy A. Christoff, was treated for multiple gunshot wounds at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, according to a police report. He was charged with five counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and, after being released from the hospital under police custody, was booked without bond into the Polk County Jail in Bartow… Witness statements and an examination of physical evidence indicate that Troy Christoff intended to shoot several members of his family who lived with him, according to the police report. Prior to the shooting, he had armed himself with a handgun and begun to load the weapon, stating which member of his family each bullet was intended for…
http://www.newschief.com/article/20090414/NEWS/904149993/1003/NEWS?Title=Wife-shoots-husband-in-self-defense-Winter-Haven-police-say
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Oops, Wrong Apartment, California Version: Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies said they responded to the scene of a home invasion where the home owner opened fire on the thieves. Deputies said a man reported four men kicked in the door at an apartment on Ethan Way near Arden Fair Mall. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies said they responded to the scene of a home invasion where the home owner opened fire on the thieves. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies said they responded to the scene of a home invasion where the home owner opened fire on the thieves. Deputies said a man reported four men kicked in the door at an apartment on Ethan Way near Arden Fair Mall. Deputies said a man reported four men kicked in the door at an apartment on Ethan Way near Arden Fair Mall. (These were not thieves or burglars – they were robbers.)
http://www.kcra.com/news/19184363/detail.html
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Oops, Wrong Apartment, Texas Version: A 26-year-old woman fatally shot a man who lived in her Red Bird apartment complex and broke into her unit Tuesday night, Dallas police said. Two women were inside their apartment in the 8000 block of Leigh Ann Drive, which is just north of Danieldale Park and Interstate 20, when the 55-year-old man knocked on the door about 11 p.m, police said. One of the women called police as the man tried to get inside, and the other woman shot him as he entered, causing him to stumble out the door and collapse in the grass, police said…
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090415_wz_fatalbreakin.d8e909e4.html
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Oops, Wrong House: When Christopher Duhan kicked open the back door of a Seabrook residence to commit a Monday afternoon burglary, he was met by the lady of the house who chased him off with her handgun, according to police. Duhan, 28, of 147 Ashworth Ave., Hampton Beach, was arraigned Tuesday in Portsmouth District Court on a felony count of burglary. According to an affidavit by officer Scott Mendes, Seabrook patrol officers were dispatched to a B Street residence at 12:30 p.m. Monday, for an "active" daytime burglary. The homeowner told police she was about to take a shower when she heard "loud crashing," so she grabbed her pistol and came face-to-face with the intruder, who she recognized as Duhan, a drug-dependent friend of a family member, according to court documents. Gun in hand, the homeowner told Duhan she was calling the police before he fled across Route 1, police allege. Based on a clothing and vehicle description, Seabrook police arrested Duhan at a Hampton hotel where he has been residing, according to the affidavit…
http://seacoastonline.com/articles/20090415-NEWS-904150366
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Oops, Wrong Pharmacy: This link is strictly a video (no text). Judge for yourself the wisdom of the pharmacist in searching for the robber inside the pharmacy once the robbery appeared to have been completed. The big question, in my mind, was whether the robber still posed a threat to innocent parties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfMZVRoODDc
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Phil Spector Had History of Mishandling Firearms: …In some circles, Mr. Spector's disregard for gun safety was as legendary as his productions. He greeted guests at his home wearing a .38 in a shoulder holster. In 1972, he was arrested in Beverly Hills for pointing a gun at a woman; charged with carrying a concealed weapon and a loaded firearm in a public place, he paid a $200 fine and was placed on one year's probation. Three years later, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after he aimed a gun in the face of a valet at the Beverly Hills Hotel. During his two trials for Ms. Clarkson's murder, the first of which ended in a deadlocked jury in 2007, five women testified that Mr. Spector threatened them at gunpoint…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123983464573522639.html#mod=djem_we
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Canada Requests Sexual History for Gun Permit: …Pierre Lemieux is an economist whose most recent book, Comprendre l'économie, just won the prestigious Prix Turgot in Paris. When it comes to guns, he's a hobbyist, not a lobbyist, but in his spare time he has been trying to make the authorities comprehend something about the relationship between public safety and his love life. Not because he thinks there's a nexus, but because the government does. Before renewing his gun permit in 2007, the authorities decided to inquire into Lemieux's bedroom history. Did he divorce anyone in the last two years? Did he break up with a girlfriend? If yes, use a separate sheet to explain…
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/04/15/george-jonas-want-a-gun-permit-tell-us-about-your-sex-life.aspx
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Department Experiences Problems with G22 Magazines: The Milwaukee Police Department found that there is a serious problem with its guns. Officer Vidal Colon was injured over the weekend in a shootout, in which his gun jammed. The police chief has known about the problem for a year, but he is now taking immediate action following Saturday's shooting. The chief sent a memo to the entire police department about the weapon problem… But, the memo to the department revealed that the problem could be with the gun itself. "We had experienced a number of issues on the range with our issued Glock model 22, .40 caliber duty pistol magazines, which represents 45 percent of our issued weapons," said Flynn in the memo. The chief became aware of the problem in January 2008. Since then, "Glock has replaced 2,700 pistol magazines at no cost to the Milwaukee Police Department," said Flynn in the memo… (So the magazine exchange was not done on an urgent basis because the problem had only been observed on the range. Even in a department that only requires "qualification" once a year, wouldn't virtually every officer fire more rounds on the range than on the street?)
http://www.wisn.com/news/19203902/detail.html?treets=mil&tid=2659196343813&tml=mil_12pm&tmi=mil_12pm_1_12000104172009&ts=H
G22's Have Had Numerous Problems in Law Enforcement: We hosted the Glock armorer course and instructor workshop at our range over the past week (very cool to have THE Dennis Tueller as the instructor). We just got our shipment of Glock 22s in last Friday, and the ammo in on Monday (CCI Blazer and Gold Dot 165gr), we were also planning on deploying the M3X lights for our new guns for the tac and K9 guys (we previously issued the S&W TSW and the M3 lights). In live fire we quickly figured out that the combo of a G22, 165gr ammo (especially the Gold Dot) and the mounted lights leads to a nasty feed ramp/front of mag nose dive stoppage. It's not a limp wrist issue, in fact it's the opposite. I could really limp wrist the gun and it would work, when one gets on the gun like one should it's instant choke. I believe that the .40 and .357 Sig Glocks are under sprung recoil spring wise, and that the round is cycling the slide so fast that the mag spring can't keep up. I'm not hold my breath that Herr Glock takes my suggestion and comes up with a recoil spring just for the .40/.357s. I should note that a couple of our guns weren't 100% even without lights, but that could have been new gun issues, although they would be the first Glocks I've seen need a break in… (From an eleven-page thread on Evan Marshall's Stopping Power Forums; this thread has run for two years. Based on my observation and experience, I believe that the "limp-wristing" phenomenon is actually a matter of letting the finger fly off the trigger when the pistol is fired; this sympathetically relaxes the remaining fingers of the gun hand. The cure is the trigger reset or "catching the link," as John Farnam call it. This tends to keep the trigger pressed into the frame until the gun starts its return from recoil.)
http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11118
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Copper Prices Rebound: After a year of eye-popping profits in the copper industry that gave way to massive losses and layoffs, it appears 2009 may bring stability. While nowhere near the record-breaking prices that copper producers enjoyed last summer - when prices soared above $4 a pound - the price of copper has steadily ascended this year… In the past 60 days, copper prices have risen from around $1.40 per pound to $2.18 on Thursday… (As noted yesterday, copper is a crucial component for most ammuntion.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/289062
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Right Wing Extremists: …My fellow Patriot "right-wing extremists" (or as Barack Obama prefers to describe you, those "bitterly clinging to guns or religion"), it is no small irony that, in the same week the central government demands payment of any income tax they hadn't already withheld (read: "pilfered") from our paychecks for redistribution, we observe Patriots Day. April 19th marks the 234th anniversary of the early morning ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes to Concord, Massachusetts, in order to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that British troops were coming to arrest them and seize their weapons. Revere was captured but Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who had joined them along the way, escaped and continued toward Concord. Dawes later fell from his horse, but Prescott, who knew the area well enough to navigate at night, made it to Concord in time to warn the Sons of Liberty…
http://www.patriotpost.us/
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NRA-ILA Alerts: List members are encouraged to check the alerts for the week, posted on the NRA-ILA website.
http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx
