by permission fromfFrom: Stephen P. Wenger and comments in () from him as well.
http://www.spw-duf.info
Once Again, Folks: Home computers and the Internet have become a
potent pair of eyes and ears for inquiring minds. The information
available is mind-boggling. And the downside is trying to establish
where the information came from - and why. There's a lot of garbage
floating around out there. If you're a hunter and you have a computer,
it's doubtful you've missed the current e-mail warning us that "Now
'all guns' must be listed on your next [2010] tax return!" … The truth
is that this piece of legislation, Senate Bill 2099, was actually
introduced in 2000 - not 2009. It is not currently before Congress.
And, according to anyone who knows anything, it's not rising from the
legislative grave. Even the National Rifle Association released the
following statement regarding this bill - in 2000 [sic]… There
continue to be real threats to Second Amendment rights. But sportsmen
and sportswomen would be better served by paying attention to
legislative updates provided by the NRA, rather than spooky, kooky
e-mails passed around in cyberspace. (I do a competent job of advising
you of the real issues. Please stop "double-checking" each new
iteration of this mailing with me.)
http://jacksonville.com/sports/outdoors/2009-09-27/story/shooting_holes_in_gun_registration_e_mail#
---
The Beat Winds Down?: David Foster of Bedford has had a hard time all
year finding ammunition for his guns. After finding mostly empty
shelves at gun stores, he finally went to a gun show a few months ago
to stock up. "I couldn't find it anywhere except the gun show, and
even there I had a hard time," said Foster, 31. "And it cost a lot."
But workers in the weapons industry point to signs that a nearly
yearlong nationwide ammunition shortage may be winding down. More ammo
is making it to store shelves now, and the price is slowly coming
down. "We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," said DeWayne
Irwin, owner of Cheaper Than Dirt, a Fort Worth store and online
retailer. "I've been doing this business since 1988, and I've never
seen something like this happen with ammunition. But it's not going to
be like this forever." Demand for guns and ammo began growing last
year before the November presidential election. It continued partly
because many gun owners were concerned that President Barack Obama and
Democrats in Congress would reinstate an assault weapons ban or
drastically hike taxes on ammunition, guns and firearms materials,
analysts have said… (Cheaper Than Dirt used to be a good online source
for ammunition, particularly for those who purchase case quantities.
Their reputation has suffered in the past year, with the perception
that their ammunition prices rose out of proportion to those of other
vendors.)
http://www.star-telegram.com/189/story/1639775.html?storylink=omni_popular
While the dismal economic picture in America hasn't caused "bank runs"
wherein customers demand to withdraw their savings from banks across
the country - a frequent occurrence during the Great Depression - gun
owners are causing a run of their own: a national "gun shop run" for
ammunition. Ammunition manufacturers report their factories are
producing ammunition at record rates and keeping their facilities
operating 24/7. Yet they still cannot keep up with the demand for
bullets for everything from handguns to hunting rifles. Gun store
owners and manufacturers claim this is the first time they have ever
seen such a drastic shortage in ammunition. According to gun rights
activists and enthusiasts, ammunition is a scarce commodity and has
been getting scarcer this year. I have never seen such a situation in
all my years as a gun owner, hunter and cop," said Edna Aquino, a New
York police officer and shooting instructor. "I'm hearing from fellow
shooters that they are stockpiling ammunition these days because they
are afraid of what they're seeing in this country," she said. Aquino
and others believe that after passing their health care plan,
President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will
pass more antigun legislation. These gun owners do not believe the
rhetoric of the politicians on the left who claim they support gun
ownership, but propose all types of new laws and regulations… (While
I'd like to see the shortage end, I continue to remind people that the
supply of ammunition [and reloading components] is much more limited
than the supply of firearms and wise people will take steps to ensure
that they are not caught short.)
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m9d27-Ammo-shortage-linked-to-fear-of-Obama-and-Democrats-say-gun-owners
With the Augusta County [VA] Fair long gone, the weekend saw
Fishersville's Augusta Expoland turned into a world of wonder for
grown-ups who like guns. Dozens of rows of shiny pistols and rifles,
antique helmets and inert grenades were mixed with booths offering
collectable coins, blown-glass jewelry and information regarding gun
owners' rights. "It's like a candy shop. It's a big kid's show," said
Dan Mason of Winchester, who spent the weekend selling rifles and
ammunition with his son, Brian, and grandson, Bradon, 8. The only
thing missing on Sunday were the big crowds walking out with armloads
of ammunition, as described in earlier national news reports. C&E Gun
Shows hosted the gun show on Saturday and Sunday, about a month after
Expoland's last gun show. Despite national reports of ammunition
selling out and decent sales at the show the month before, sales were
down this weekend. "A couple months ago, it was fairly packed; you
could hardly get through," Mason said, explaining that this weekend,
gun enthusiasts browsed, but fewer showed up and made big purchases.
"Either they don't have the money, or they have all they wanted." …
(For those who still have funds available, the next few months may be
good times to invest them in "tangible assets" as demand drops and
prices fall.)
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090928/NEWS01/90927002/1002/news01/Gun+show+s+ammunition+sales+slow+after+earlier+spike
Meanwhile, in Venezuela…: Legislators at the National Assembly are set
to take what appears to be a rather unorthodox approach to law and
order in a society notoriously renowned for gunslinging and one of the
highest per capita murder rates on the planet. The defense committee
at the legislature has been looking at a proposed reform of the
70-year-old Arms and Explosive Law, which apparently has yet to be
brought into line with the Bolivarian Constitution adopted by
referendum at President Hugo Chávez's behest in late 1999. The head of
the committee, Deputy Juan Mendoza, said work was "90 percent"
complete. Among the proposals is one particularly eye-catching item.
This envisages what Mendoza called a "specific prohibition under which
any person cannot buy more than 50 bullets a year." Mendoza, a
middle-ranking member of Chávez's governing United Socialist Party of
Venezuela (PSUV), said the proposal represented "a form of reducing
the parameters when it comes to the use of firearms and ammunition." …
(Historically, firearm permits were routinely granted to law-abiding
Venezuelans. Needless to say, Venezuelan criminals have always found
ways to obtain firearms and ammunition without the requisite permits.
A large proportion of those licensed before Chávez came to power are
probably viewed as enemies of his regime.)
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=344534&CategoryId=10717
---
More on the Badger Guns Debacle: The convicted felon and his
girlfriend pulled up to Badger Guns in West Milwaukee one evening last
week and went shopping for a gun. After they left, the couple were
stopped just inside the Milwaukee city limits, where police officers
were secretly watching the store for indications of "straw buying" -
someone illegally buying a gun for a felon. The stop was part of a
monthslong undercover mission by Milwaukee police to turn up the heat
on Badger Guns, which sells a large percentage of firearms that are
seized by police, according to new gun-trace data. The 27-year-old
man, on parole for robbery, initially denied he had even been in
Badger. He told officers they were at Wendy's, getting burgers. Then
he said the two were actually on their way to the hospital and just
turned around in Badger's lot. The felon finally fessed up but
insisted he was only in Badger to help his 22-year-old girlfriend shop
for a gun. Officer Joseph Honzelka quizzed the woman. He found her
answers suspicious - she didn't know a handgun from a shotgun… (Very
few states require a background check to use a shooting range, even
with a firearm that may be rented there.)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/61985627.html
---
Bloomberg Dupe Strikes Back: Here's a simple idea: You can be for the
rights of law-abiding gun owners but also for common-sense policies to
keep guns out of the hands of criminals. That idea has brought
together a bipartisan group of more than 400 mayors from all over the
country as the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. I'm a veteran, a
gun owner, a hunter and a member of the National Rifle Association -
and I'm the mayor of Hurst [TX] and a member of Mayors Against Illegal
Guns. Unfortunately, the NRA has spent the past month attempting to
bully mayors, including me, to drop out of this effort to have a
consensus discussion about guns. They have sent hundreds of thousands
of misleading postcards stating this coalition is "anti-gun" and is
seeking to "regulate gun shows out of existence," along with several
other untruths and misleading statements…
http://www.star-telegram.com/242/story/1639282.html#
---
This Student Gets It: Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed five pieces of
legislation that foster gun-safety education in Arizona's schools and
reinforce the rights of gun owners in the state into law. The
legislation was sponsored by Sens. Jack Harper and Russell Pearce, and
mandates that Arizona's Right-to-Carry permit holders are allowed to
defend themselves in public restaurants, store their firearm in a
locked vehicle while parked in a publicly accessible parking lot, and
reveal their firearm to an individual threatening them or a loved one.
Furthermore, the new law states that an individual who shoots someone
in self-defense is innocent until proven guilty. Contrastingly, as
Arizona takes steps to maintain and strengthen the Second Amendment
rights of its citizens, New York City's billionaire mayor, Michael
Bloomberg, is busy promoting and financing his gun-ban lobby… Using
his money to manipulate and feed his anti-gun operation, Bloomberg has
set the stage for a modern reenactment of our historic battle against
tyranny - billionaire style. But this time, the battle will wage
between the people and a political authority corrupted with
self-service and backed by millions. According to NBC, Bloomberg has
personally invested $2.9 million into the anti-gun agenda,
supplemented by real estate tycoon Eli Broad's donation of $750,000
and the $1.1 million contributed by the Joyce Foundation, which funds
the Violence Policy Center… (Let us not forget that Big Brother served
for from 1994 to 2002 as a director of the Joyce Foundation.)
http://www.statepress.com/node/7850
---
Citizens Challenge Virginia Tech Panel: There was a fitting response
to the stacked panel at Virginia Tech that we talked about on
Wednesday. People who actually knew what they were talking about
showed up: "The group Students for Concealed Carry on Campus showed up
as well as members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. This was
supposed to be a discussion on violence prevention but it quickly
turned into a gun debate." Good. That sure beats the one-sided
propaganda event the gungrabbers had planned. And great. Citizens who
are mindful of their unalienable right to keep and bear arms are
watchful and at the ready, at least in Virginia, to ensure the truth
will be heard. They deserve our thanks, and more importantly, our
commitment to emulate their example whenever the need arises in our
communities.
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d26-Citizens-bring-truth-to-Virgina-Tech-gun-panel
---
Typo on 4473 Not a Crime: Gun rights advocates object to gun
registration as offensive to the Second Amendment and a slippery slope
toward gun confiscation, as happened in New York City and California
in the late 20th century. But a Utah appeals court ruling on
September 24, 2009 (quashing a hyper-zealous criminal prosecution of
Kidus Yohannes, a legally present immigrant alien who made a mistake
on a gun purchase form when buying two long guns) highlights the
danger of decentralized gun registration through gun dealer transfer
records. The Utah man's crime? The alien registration number that Mr.
Yohannes "provided on the form was an application number given to
Yohannes by immigration officials when he applied to change his status
from asylum to lawful permanent resident" and not his previously
assigned actual alien registration number…
http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d27-Utah-appeals-court-rules-typo-on-gun-purchase-form-not-a-crime
---
Free Plaxico Burress!: … No, Plaxico Burress managed to violate a
"law" that really should not be a law, period. This is a statute that
declares that people in NYC are not permitted to engage in
self-defense without permission, while city employees wearing blue
uniforms and badges are entitled to empty the clips of their handguns
into unarmed people and not go to jail. New Yorkers were not always so
squeamish about firearms. John Lott writes that a few decades ago high
school students who were on rifle teams would carry their rifles on
the subway and into their schools, where the guns were put into safe
keeping until the students went to practice at a shooting range.
Unfortunately, New York has political leadership that no longer
realizes that just because a person is carrying a private firearm does
not mean the person is going to shoot other people. Bloomberg is fond
of saying, "I don't know why people carry guns. Guns kill people." No
doubt, Hizzoner demands that the police that tend to his entourage be
disarmed. Oh, I forgot; only privately-owned guns "kill people." Cops
never shoot anyone, and they certainly never kill people and certainly
not unarmed people…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson265.html
---
South Carolina Candidate Pushes RKBA: A candidate to be South
Carolina's next National Guard leader skipped the fiery speeches for
firepower, launching his campaign with what he called a "machine-gun
social." The Greenville News reports some 500 people came out to a
shooting range Saturday for Republican Dean Allen's political rally.
He wants to be the next adjutant general, the person who leads the
state's National Guard. Attendees paid $25 for barbecue, a clip of
bullets for target practice and the chance to win a semiautomatic
AK-47. Whoever wins the rifle will have to undergo a background check.
Allen says he is an Army veteran who wanted to celebrate Second
Amendment rights. South Carolina is the only state that elects its
adjutant general.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33047176/ns/politics-more_politics/
---
Oops, Wrong House: A teenage burglary suspect remains hospitalized
after he was shot Friday morning while breaking into a home in
southeast Houston, authorities said. The owner of the home in the 8100
block of Gladstone was alone about 10:15 a.m. when he heard noises
coming from the side of the house. After hearing the sound of breaking
glass, the homeowner, 42, grabbed his pistol and went to investigate.
He pulled back a bedroom curtain and was confronted by the suspect,
who was removing shards of the broken glass from the window, police
said. The homeowner was startled and fired a single shot. The suspect
was struck but fled along with two other people. All three were taken
into custody a short time later, police said. The teenager was taken
to Ben Taub General Hospital in critical condition. The shooting will
be referred to a Harris County grand jury, police said. (I hope that
the shot was fired by intent and not as a startle reaction, which
would imply that the homeowner had pled his finger inside the trigger
guard prematurely.)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6626028.html
---
Oops, Wrong Pigeon: The victim of a robbery attempt shot and killed
one of the robbers in New Eagle [PA] early yesterday, state police
said. Police said William Eyles, 25, of Monongahela, and Cole
MacFarlane, 25, of New Eagle, tried to rob Joseph Gallick, who pulled
a gun and shot Mr. Eyles. Mr. Gallick was treated at Monongahela
Hospital for injuries incurred during the crime. Mr. MacFarlane was
charged with homicide, attempted robbery, conspiracy and criminal
mischief and is in the Washington County Correctional Facility.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09269/1000926-58.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml
---
Oops, Wrong Car: A Billings [MT] man driving home from work around 5
p.m. Monday spotted his car that had been stolen from him that
morning. He chased the car until it stopped on the 2600 block of
Fourth Avenue South and managed to hold one of the passengers at
gunpoint until police arrived. "He was actually going home from work
at the time of the call," Billings Police Sgt. Scott Conrad said. "It
was a red Suburban. He chases it down and there's four occupants in
the vehicle. Three run. He catches one of the passengers, with one
hand at gunpoint and one hand on the phone calling police dispatch."
Billings police arrived minutes later and ordered the man to the
ground. They took the teen into custody and released the man once they
realized what had happened. Conrad said the boy helped police identify
those who had allegedly stolen the car, and the boy was later
released. "He actually helped in the case," Conrad said. "We do know
who we're looking for." (Conspicuously absent from this report is the
usual "don't try this at home" warning from the local police.
Nonetheless, it might have been more prudent to have called 911 and
simply followed the vehicle until police arrived as there was no
imminent threat to life or limb.)
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_ee08a900-a73c-11de-b16f-001cc4c03286.html
---
Oops, Wrong Church: A pistol packing pastor shot and critically
wounded a would-be thief Sunday after the suspect broke into his
church. According to Detroit News reporting partner WXYZ-TV (Channel
7), the incident occurred when the suspect rode his bicycle to the
Westside Bible Church at Seven Mile and Winston. The pastor, a retired
police lieutenant, was called to his church after being alerted by the
burglar alarm company. According to witnesses, the pastor confronted
the suspect and was forced to shoot him after he tried to hit the
minister. The suspect was held until police arrived on the scene.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090928/METRO01/909280370/1361/Pastor-shoots-would-be-robber-at-church
---
Oops, Wrong Teenager: A father who attacked his 37-year-old best
friend and roommate with the butt of a shotgun after finding him
having sex with his 16-year-old daughter will not be charged in the
attack. Officials with the [FL] State Attorney's Office declined to
file charges against the Wildwood father in the attack that sent the
37-year-old man and roommate to Leesburg Regional Medical Center with
head injuries. Bill Gladson, a supervisor with the State Attorney's
Office, said the father had the right to use reasonable force to
prevent his daughter from becoming the victim of a sex crime. The
37-year-old also had signed a waiver at the hospital, stating he
didn't want the father charged, according to Wildwood police… The
37-year-old was arrested on seven counts of unlawful activity and sex
with a minor after leaving the hospital on Aug. 24…
http://www.dailycommercial.com/localnews/story/092309shotgun
---
Readers Respond to Additional California Tax Proposal: Lots of people
had loads of things to say about Thursday's gun column, the one where
I stated that a new state law tightening down on ammunition sales
probably won't do anything to stop the flow of ammunition through the
guns of thugs and lunatics… Michael Dodson of Midland, Texas,
e-mailed, "What a remarkable idea. Carry it another step. How about an
additional 20 percent tax on automobiles for burying victims and an
additional 25 percent tax for medical care due to maiming? Let's see,
that $16,000 Hyundai would then cost $23,200. I don't even want to
think about what my next $35,000 pickup truck would cost. I might as
well just sell the farm to Cargill and move on." …
http://www.dailybreeze.com/columnists/ci_13435496?source=rss
My response did not make it into print. Here's what I wrote:
You asked for comments on your September 23 commentary, "All the gun,
ammunition laws in the world won't change who we are."
I'm sure that you are well aware of Justice John Marshall's
pronouncement that the power to tax is the power to destroy and I'm
sure that is in this vein that you resurrected your 1994 tax proposal.
I am a former Californian who received the top education available in
my profession, at an extremely low cost to me, from the University of
California at San Francisco. The taxpayers of California did not
derive the full benefit of that education because I was driven from
the state, in 1999, by a crescendo of increasingly severe
infringements of my right to keep and bear arms, particularly for my
own defense in crime-ridden Los Angeles County, where it is virtually
impossible to obtain a permit to carry a firearm lawfully.
Tax away, my friend, and finish killing off your state. You are not
only driving away some of your most productive residents, you will
continue to drive off some of your most crucial employers. Don't like
particulate matter from truck tires and diesel fumes? Tax them. Don't
like guns? Tax them. Don't like your tax dollars being consumed by
illegal aliens? Tax them. Oops, that's not only politically incorrect,
it's impractical. I guess it's easier just increasing the taxes on
gainfully employed legal residents to make up the difference. After
all, that's the same logic in taxing lawful gun owners to pay for the
misdeeds of criminals.
Keep taxing your best citizens, both in California and the nation, and
you will not only destroy your intended targets, you will destroy what
made both the state and the nation the most desirable places to live
in the world.
State and local governments are raising taxes and inventing new ones
as they scramble to balance their budgets even as the nation's economy
begins to emerge from the deepest recession in seven decades. State
budgets typically take a year or two to reflect improvements in the
national economy, the National Association of State Budget Officers
and the National Governors Association explained in its latest fiscal
survey of states. The report warned that "state fiscal conditions will
remain weak in fiscal 2010 and likely into fiscal years 2011 and
2012." So, brace yourselves for a deluge of nuisance taxes, sin taxes
and "fees," limited only by the imagination of revenue-starved
governors, mayors and legislators… (Of note, there is no mention of
targeting firearms and ammunition for special taxation, despite a
history of "progressive" proposals to do so. Could politicians be
learning some lessons?)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/28/hard-pressed-politicians-produce-irritating-taxes/
---
Tangentially Related: … Technology moves so quickly we can barely keep
up, and our legal system moves so slowly it can't keep up with itself.
By design, the law is built up over time by court decisions, statutes
and regulations. Sometimes even criminal laws are left vague, to be
defined case by case. Technology exacerbates the problem of laws so
open and vague that they are hard to abide by, to the point that we
have all become potential criminals. Boston civil-liberties lawyer
Harvey Silverglate calls his new book "Three Felonies a Day,"
referring to the number of crimes he estimates the average American
now unwittingly commits because of vague laws. New technology adds its
own complexity, making innocent activity potentially criminal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574438900830760842.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
"Did you really think we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr.
Ferris. "We want them broken...There's no way to rule innocent men.
The only power any government has is the power to crack down on
criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them.
One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible
for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law
abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the
kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively
interpreted - and you create a nation of law breakers - and then you
cash in on guilt..."
- Ayn Rand (1905-1982), spoken by Dr. Floyd Ferris in Atlas Shrugged, 1957
