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Gallup Confirms Rasmussen Poll on Infringements: Gallup finds a new
low of 44% of Americans saying the laws covering firearm sales should
be made more strict. That is down 5 points in the last year and 34
points from the high of 78% recorded the first time the question was
asked, in 1990. Today, Americans are as likely to say the laws
governing gun sales should be kept as they are now (43%) as to say
they should be made more strict. Until this year, Gallup had always
found a significantly higher percentage advocating stricter laws. At
the same time, 12% of Americans believe the laws should be less
strict, which is low in an absolute sense but ties the highest Gallup
has measured for this response. These results are based on Gallup's
annual Crime Poll, conducted Oct.1-4 this year. The poll also shows a
new low in the percentage of Americans favoring a ban on handgun
possession except by the police and other authorized persons, a
question that dates back to 1959. Only 28% now favor such a ban. The
high point in support for a handgun-possession ban was 60% in the
initial measurement in 1959. Since then, less than a majority has been
in favor, and support has been below 40% since December 1993…
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123596/In-U.S.-Record-Low-Support-Stricter-Gun-Laws.aspx
Rasmussen Result Summarized:
Related Commentary: A recent Rasmussen poll on gun rights versus gun
control clearly shows that liberal demagogues including Chicago Mayor
Richard Daley and Seattle's lame duck Mayor Greg Nickels are far out
of the mainstream when it comes to gun rights. My colleague Gene
German in Wisconsin writes about this poll here. Alan Gottlieb,
chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear
Arms, said the poll results confirm what his organization has been
saying for years. "It's ironic that the Chicago case just went to the
Supreme Court," Gottlieb noted, "while Rasmussen tells us that only 20
percent of adults believe city governments have a right to prevent
citizens from owning handguns."
Just a Reminder: Each time I read or hear the general media referring
to "assault firearms," I cringe. Why? Because many of them have little
or no idea of what they're talking about. The term "assault weapon" is
an arbitrary (and politicized) phrase used all too often by the media
to describe a collection of semi-automatic firearms that outwardly
only "appear similar" to those used by the military but are not alike
in actuality… t is a common misconception that the assault weapons ban
restricted weapons capable of fully automatic fire, such as true
assault rifles and machine guns. Fully automatic weapons were
unaffected by the ban, although they have been primarily banned and
heavily restricted by permit since the National Firearms Act of 1934.
Most of these firearms being described as "assault weapons" have
physical appearances similar to their military look-alikes, but there
the similarity ends. (It is a misconception because the "general"
media has worked diligently to make it one.)
http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2009-10-08/8053/The-medias-assault-on-assault-weapons/
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SAF Warns Seattle Mayor: The Second Amendment Foundation today warned
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to heed the public rejection of a proposed
gun ban at city parks facilities or face the consequences in court.
SAF obtained information from the mayor's office that the overwhelming
majority of citizens living both inside and outside the city turned
thumbs down on the mayor's plan to ban even legally-carried firearms
in city parks facilities. Nickels has already been advised by Attorney
General Rob McKenna that the city has no authority to enact such a
ban, which would be illegal under the state's preemption law. Only 8
percent of Seattle residents commenting on the idea support it,
according to figures from the mayor's office. Ninety-two percent of
Seattleites who opined rejected the idea. Only 2 percent of
respondents who live outside the city support the proposed ban, and 98
percent oppose the idea. Deadline for comments was last Sunday. SAF
has learned that the city received 1,088 comments via e-mail, and only
44 supported the mayor's proposal. Ten more telephone comments were
received, with only one favoring the ban…
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saf-warns-seattle-mayor-to-heed-public-rejection-of-gun-ban-63783682.html
http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m10d8-Gun-Rights-101-Public-comment-goes-heavily-against-Nickels-gun-ban
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Acquiring a Handgun Legally in DC: On Monday's Special Report with
Bret Baier on FNC, correspondent James Rosen filed a report describing
the line of obstacles to acquiring a handgun legally in Washington,
D.C., in spite of last year's Supreme Court ruling overturning the
city's outright ban on handgun possession in the city. Host Baier
introduced the report: "Correspondent James Rosen reports while it is
now legal to get a handgun in the nation's capital, it is definitely
not easy." Rosen went through the steps of obtaining a gun during the
report, and ended up playing a clip of NRA Executive Director Wayne
LaPierre as he summed up the process. LaPierre: "What D.C. is doing is
throwing up every obstacle, shackling the freedom to the point where
it's no longer really a freedom." Below is a compete transcript of the
report from the Monday, October 5, Special Report with Bret Baier on
FNC.. (I assume that "FNC" is "Fox News Channel.")
Pennsylvania Man Fired for Surfing Gun Sites: It's not unusual for
employees to be fired for browsing pornographic Web sites at work. But
a Pennsylvania gun owner named Tony Jackson may have been the first
person ever fired for looking at Web sites featuring gun parts.
Jackson worked at a Lotus Notes administrator at Planco, a subsidiary
of Hartford, Conn.-based insurance company The Hartford. He's a
firearms instructor and self-described Second Amendment advocate who,
while at work in May 2007, visited Web sites including shotgun maker
Mossberg and Impact Guns's online store because he and his wife were
planning on going skeet shooting and she needed a replacement part for
her shotgun… (The Hartford, which happens to be AARP's insurance
affiliate, has a long history of opposing the RKBA, as does AARP. I
can recall reports of The Hartford raising premiums or canceling
coverage when they learned of firearm ownership or the operation of a
family-only range on rural property.)
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/09/taking_liberties/entry5373168.shtml
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More on the Death of Melanie Hain: … Hain, who gained national
notoriety a year ago when she wore a holstered handgun to her
5-year-old daughter's soccer game, and her husband, Scott Hain, were
found shot to death inside their South Second Avenue home Wednesday
night in an apparent murder-suicide… On Thursday, other open-carry
advocates who knew Hain said her death was a matter of domestic
violence and should not be used to argue against the Second Amendment
rights she championed. "If Meleanie had never taken the firearm to the
soccer game, regretfully, what happened (Wednesday) still would have
happened," said Rich Banks, founder of paopencarry.org, a Web site
devoted to the open-carry issue… "A lot of people were aware of her
marital issues," Banks said. "She did stuff that she didn't completely
trust his reaction to. It was not a secret by any means. She has been
considering her options for some time." Despite the marital discord,
no one expected a violent outcome, Banks said…
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_13516841
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What About the Illegal Seizures of Firearms?: In its September
newsletter, underneath a notice about using antibacterial wipes during
flu season, the local Fraternal Order of Police reminded New Orleans
officers they had a right to be represented by a lawyer when
questioned by the F.B.I., whether as a witness or as a potential
target. The warning has become routine for the police over the last
few months here. Four years after the department was accused of acting
lawlessly in suppressing violence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,
dozens of officers, some from an elite unit, have been interviewed by
the F.B.I. or faced subpoenas to testify before federal grand juries.
F.B.I. agents seized files from the department's homicide division…
(Why is there no federal civil-rights investigation of the illegal
seizures of firearms from New Orleans residents by New Orleans
officers and many of those who came in to assist them?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/us/09orleans.html?ref=us
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Rule Two, Rule Three Reminder: A Vancouver [WA] man is being
investigated for reckless endangerment after he accidentally
discharged a gun, sending a bullet through his neighbor's apartment.
Brian Hahn, 53, accidentally shot himself in the toe as he was
unloading his gun. The gun discharged, sending a bullet through the
roof of a bedroom below Hahn's apartment at 8210 N.E. 13th Ave.
Tuesday night, said Clark County sheriff's Sgt. Scott Schanaker. A
couple were sitting in their living room and watching TV when they
heard the gunshot. They dashed into the back office bedroom and found
a bullet hole in their ceiling, Schanaker said… (Rule Two: Don't let
the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot. Rule Three:
Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until your
sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire. I teach a
concept called the "safety circle," which presumes that down is a
relatively safe direction. I do so, however, with the caveat that it
may not always be so, particularly if you are in a building with
another story below you.)
http://www.columbian.com/article/20091008/NEWS02/710099974/0/FRONTPAGE
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Rule Four Reminder: A police officer wounded a woman accidentally
while trying to shoot a pit bull she saw jumping on a group of people.
The incident happened about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in a residential
neighborhood in La Marque, 35 miles southeast of Houston. Witnesses
say a passing officer spotted what she thought was a pit bull attack
but, in reality, was the dog playing with a two people. The witnesses
say the woman playing with the dog shouted, prompting the officer to
get out of her car and shoot at the animal. A bullet fragment
ricocheted off the street and wounded a woman standing nearby in the
chest. The woman was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
Police say both she and the wounded dog are expected to recover. The
case will be presented to a grand jury. (Rule Four: Always be sure of
your target and what's beyond it. While private citizens can generally
use deadly force in defense of another, if the party being defended
could justifiably use deadly force, I always counsel to make
absolutely certain that you know the roles of the players because
bullets have no brakes or steering wheels. As a dog owner, I suspect
that this was largely an example of breed profiling.)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6658375.html
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Not the Brightest Bulb in the GOP Chandelier: A GOP candidate in South
Florida says it was a mistake to shoot at a target with a Democratic
congresswoman's initials. It happened during a weekly meeting of the
Southeast Broward Republican Club held at a gun range. Members used
assault rifles to shoot at targets including a cut-out of a man in a
headdress holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Robert Lowry, a
Republican vying to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, fired at a full-body silhouette with her initials written
next to its head. Wasserman Schultz, who made headlines earlier this
year when she announced she had secretly been battling breast cancer,
declined comment. Lowry first told the Sun-Sentinel it was a joke,
then that it was a mistake.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/09/AR2009100901897.html
