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Border Task Force Urges "AWB": The United States should reinstate a
Clinton-era ban on assault weapons to prevent such guns from reaching
Mexican drug cartels, former officials from both countries said in a
report released Tuesday. The group, which includes two former U.S.
ambassadors to Mexico, also said the U.S. should do more to stop the
smuggling of firearms and ammunition into Mexico by stepping up
investigations of gun dealers and more strictly regulating gun shows.
The Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border listed
the assault weapons ban as a step the U.S. should take immediately to
improve security in both countries. The 10-year ban expired in 2004.
"Improving our efforts ... will weaken the drug cartels and disrupt
their illegal activities, and make it easier ultimately to dismantle
and destroy them," said Robert Bonner, co-chairman of the group and
former head of both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and
Customs and Border Protection agency. U.S. and Mexican officials say
drug cartels frequently use assault rifles, which are banned in Mexico
but easily purchased in the United States… (Mexican cartels are more
likely to use true assault rifles, purloined from Mexican military
armories or smuggled in from other parts of Latin America, than the
semi-automatic look-alikes available for "unregistered" purchase in
the US.)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-aP9s_hLiZ5bmg3yOf4KatzBtPAD9BALSB83
Tucson Congressman Joins the Chorus: Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) says
80 percent of the guns confiscated in Mexico are originally from the
U.S. He says Second Amendment "implications" have halted any federal
interventions to stop the gun running. (Audio clip runs 19 seconds and
serves mostly as evidence against Grijlava.)
AARP vs. the RKBA: While they have not been publicizing it lately, the
guys who run AARP are longtime opponents of the RKBA and lawful CCW in
particular. Howard Nemerov has summarized some recent incidents in
which people old enough to qualify for membership in AARP successfully
used firearms to defend themselves against younger assailants. As I
have replied to AARP solicitations more than once, "…As people grow
older, they tend to become weaker physically. This makes them both
more attractive targets for violent criminals and less able to resist
violent crime with physical force alone. This makes the firearm a more
crucial emergency tool for the older citizens that AARP purports to
represent… When I see AARP reverse its prior stance and advocate for
the lawful concealed carry of firearms, I will be happy to join its
ranks. Until then, no discount you can offer me is worth surrendering
my birthright."
What If They Had Been Licensed Firearm Dealers?: Mayor Bloomberg
Sunday defended city bureaucrats who handed out half a million bucks
to members of a violent Brooklyn drug gang who sued the Police
Department. "The city gets sued 200 times a week," Bloomberg told the
Daily News. "We take as many cases to trial as we possibly can, but we
would [go] bankrupt if we tried to defend every one of them." The
mayor was reacting to a front-page News exclusive that exposed a city
practice of settling most lawsuits instead of facing expensive jury
verdicts… (Yet Bloomberg has no qualms about spending city funds to
send armies of private investigators around the nation, seeking to
entrap licensed firearm dealers in straw purchases and has vigorously
defended the lawsuits he has incurred from that practice.)
Oops, Wrong Purse: A retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy shot
and killed a man as he allegedly tried to steal a woman's purse in La
Habra this evening, authorities said. La Habra police received a call
about 5 p.m. from a woman who said her purse had been snatched in the
1300 block of Beach Boulevard. Police then received a second call from
the retired deputy, who said he was in his car chasing the suspects,
who were fleeing in their vehicle, said Cindy Knapp, a spokeswoman for
the La Habra Police Department. The man opened fire on the alleged
purse snatcher in the 700 block of West Imperial Highway, Knapp said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene… (Whether the
purse-snatcher was truly a victim is debatable. While details are
lacking, I suspect that the retired deputy will face no charges for
his intervention and the eventual use of deadly force; I'm not sure
the same would be true for some other CWP-holder in southern
California.)
In New York, However…: The NYPD suspended a cop who was charged with
pulling out a gun on a Long Island Rail Road train while trying to
hush some loud hockey fans, police said Monday… Hendrick pleaded not
guilty yesterday in Nassau District Court in Hempstead to charges of
second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, and
second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor. Metropolitan Transportation
Authority police said that Hendrick, who was off duty, was riding a
Ronkonkoma-bound train about 9:20 p.m. and spotted "a group of unruly
passengers following a Ranger game." "He took out his concealed Smith
& Wesson handgun and pointed it at the individuals," said Eric
Phillips, spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney… Hendrick
told News 12 Long Island he warned two fans who were cursing and
drinking and when they started to "rumble," he said, "I pulled out my
gun. It was two against one - they were out for blood." (Criminal
possession of a weapon is a curious charge against a serving police
officer; here is the relevant section of the statute:
http://law.justia.com/newyork/codes/penal/pen0265.03_265.03.html.)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/10/13/2009-10-13_cop_suspended_in_lirr_threat.html
---
Dynamics of a Home-Defense Shooting: A Harris County man who shot an
intruder in his home said pulling the trigger is the most difficult
decision anyone can make. "It's a weird feeling," Jorge Guzman said as
he walked through his bullet-riddled home on Lima Drive. "I don't
care who it is or who they think they are, when you're in that
position, it's totally different." … The chilling encounter was
captured in a call to 911. "Please, they're breaking the windows,"
Guzman told a dispatcher. Guzman, who had barricaded himself in a back
bedroom with a handgun, described the scene as it unfolded to
dispatchers. "I hear somebody in the house. They're trying to open the
door. Hurry! Please hurry," he said. The dispatcher continued to
reassure Guzman that sheriff's deputies were on the way. At one
point, Guzman was instructed to lay down his weapon. "Go and put your
gun down because if you hear anything, it's going to be the deputies,"
the 911 dispatcher insisted. Then, moments later, the sound of gunfire
was caught on tape. Guzman told 11 News he fired the shots because the
intruder was trying to kick down the door to his bedroom… (Note the
erroneous instruction given by the dispatcher. It's one thing for the
dispatcher to advise that the deputies have arrived on the scene and
to verify the locations and descriptions of the actors but his
dispatcher appears to have gone a bit far. Even if the dispatcher does
not request the descriptions, it is crucial to furnish descriptions of
any defenders who may be armed, to reduce the risk of them being shot
by responding officers.)
Meanwhile, in Florida…: Investigators said two brothers were coming
home from work when they found two intruders at their home located on
Rubens Court in the Carolina Estates subdivision. A short time after
the call to authorities, the sheriff's office received a call from an
adjacent subdivision where they found a man with a gunshot wound who
was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
Homeowner Anthony Julien said he fired on the intruders after his
brother Peter Julien spotted them near the garage. Anthony Julien said
he keeps a hand gun in his bag fore [sic] safety. Officials said one
man died in the home. Another suspect was found with a gunshot wound a
few streets over and was rushed to the hospital where he is in
critical condition…
http://www.wesh.com/news/21290748/detail.html
A bear was shot at by a Buckingham man Sunday night after the critter
tried to get inside his house three times, state wildlife authorities
said. The bear tried first to go in a back door and left. It then
tried the garage, left the area and came back again at the front door,
said Gary Morse, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
spokesman. Each time, the family called 911 during the events that
took place between 9 and 9:30 p.m. Fish and Wildlife Lt. Michael
Frantz filed a report stating that the man, who lives in the 6100
block of Higgins Boulevard, fired three rounds at the bear, which fled
into the woods. No trace of the bear has been found. Lee County
Sheriff's Office deputies and wildlife officials could not find a
blood trail and do not believe the bear was shot. The man does not
face criminal charges for firing at the bear, Morse said…
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/oct/12/bear-shot-after-it-tries-break-lee-county-home/
---
Maintain Control of Your Dog: …The officer, exercising the horses in a
paddock at the Park Police stable in the Southeast Washington
recreation area, was set upon by "a motley collection of dogs of
various breeds," said the spokesman, Sgt. David Schlosser. As the dogs
barked and snarled just beyond the paddock fence, he said, the officer
began leading the horses to the safety of the stable. But the officer,
whom Schlosser did not identify, feared that the dogs might squirm
under the fence and follow. So he fired one or two shots into the
ground, Schlosser said. "At that point, the dogs skedaddled." With the
horses safely inside, Schlosser said, the officer found the canines a
short distance away, gathered around a woman who turned out to be a
dog walker without leashes… (I generally advise against firing warning
shots. The fact that Arizona resident Hal Fish fired a warning shot
when he was charged by two dogs on a hiking trail was raised at trial,
in juxtaposition to the fact that he shot that he shot the dog-walker
three times in the chest when the dog-walker subsequently charged him.
Firing a warning shot directly into soft ground is definitely safer
than firing it into the air but bullets striking packed dirt at
shallow angles will actually ricochet farther than they will off
pavement because they encounter less friction.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101302466.html?hpid=sec-metro
---
Further Details on the Murder of Melanie Hain: Gun-carrying soccer mom
Meleanie Hain, who died with her husband in an apparent
murder-suicide, had been separated from her husband and was
considering filing a protection-from-abuse order against him, her
lawyer said today. Matthew Weisberg, who represented Meleanie Hain in
a federal lawsuit against the Lebanon County sheriff, said he
understood she had been seeking a PFA against her husband sometime in
the past month. No PFAs were issued, Lebanon County authorities said.
Hain, 31, and her husband, Scott, 33, were pronounced dead by Lebanon
County Coroner Dr. Jeffrey Yocum shortly after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at
their home at Second Avenue and East Grant Street, police said. The
couple's three children were home at the time and were not injured.
Police have not said who killed whom. They did say the bodies were
found on different floors of the family's Lebanon house. Autopsies are
scheduled for Friday… (It's a shame that Hain, who apparently felt
sufficiently threatened to consider a PFA, did not chose to wear her
gun inside her own home. While police may not be prepared to state who
shot whom, not only did the children cry that "Daddy shot Mommy," a
friend states she witnessed the first shooting via a video chat.)
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/10/gun-toting_mom_meleanie_hain_h.html
---
O, Canada: Perhaps nothing illustrates the differences in approach and
motivation of the political parties better than the debate on the gun
registry. Parliament now has before it Private Members' Bill C-391,
which would do away with the long-gun registry but leave in place
other parts of licensing requirements and safety regulations with
respect to all guns… Reality has not seemed to matter to those who
support retention of the long-gun registry. In fact, the information
it contains has been shown to be incomplete and unreliable. The
compliance rate is estimated at only 50 per cent which effectively
renders it useless. The Department of Justice has found through
studies that among homicides, 84 per cent of the firearms used in the
commission of the crimes are unregistered, and close to 75 per cent
were illegal guns smuggled into Canada… (Unlike Mexico, where military
armories supply much of the hardware used by drug gangs, the smuggling
statement may be true for Canada. Like Mexico [and the US], most of
the firearm-related homicides are related to gangs that deal in
drugs.)
http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/friendsneighbours/article/822030
---
Delaware School Board Relents: …The seven-member Christina School
Board voted unanimously Tuesday to reduce the punishment for
kindergartners and first-graders who take weapons to school or commit
violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days.
Zachary Christie, 6, had faced 45 days in an alternative school for
troublemakers after he took the utensil - a combination folding knife,
fork and spoon - to school to eat lunch last month. Now, he could
return Wednesday… The punishment given to Zachary was one of several
in recent years that have prompted national debate on whether schools
have gone too far with zero-tolerance policies. It was not the first
such case in the Christina School District, Delaware's largest with
more than 17,000 students, which includes parts of the city of
Wilmington and its suburbs. Last year, a fifth-grade girl was ordered
expelled after she brought a birthday cake to school and a serrated
knife to cut it with. The expulsion was overturned, and it led to a
state law that gave districts more flexibility on punishments. But
that law applied only to conduct that triggers expulsions, not
suspensions… (Recall, from yesterday's mailing, "…Hundreds of people
were expected to attend a school board meeting Tuesday evening to
object to the suspension of 6-year-old Zachary Christie from Downes
Elementary School for bringing the camping utensil from home…")
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,565640,00.html
…Enough. It is past time for school districts to drop no-tolerance
policies in which the consequence is often far worse than the offense.
For one thing, there is no solid research showing any positive effect
on individual behavior or overall school safety. They are also cruel
and counterproductive. Zero-tolerance policies started out in the
1980s as part of a federal mandate regarding weapons at school. Local
school districts then broadened the scope, including drugs, alcohol,
threats and even cursing… (This is from no less than The Washington
Post.)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/checking-it-out/checking-it-out-zero-tolerance.html
---
Tangentially Related: The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate
Crimes Prevention Act, which President Obama plans to sign soon, is
named after two men who were murdered in 1998. Shepard, a gay college
student, was beaten to death in Wyoming. Byrd, a black hitchhiker, was
dragged to death behind a pickup truck in Texas. Bigotry seemed to
play a role in both crimes. Here is something else Matthew Shepard and
James Byrd have in common: Their killers were arrested, tried,
convicted, and sentenced to life in prison or death, all without the
benefit of hate crime laws, state or federal. Hence it is very strange
to slap their names onto a piece of legislation based on the premise
that such crimes might go unpunished without a federal law aimed at
bias-motivated violence… If someone hits me in California with a
baseball bat made in Kentucky, that is not a federal crime. But if he
does exactly the same thing while calling me a "dirty kike," it is. No
doubt the prosecutor also would deem it relevant that my attacker
owned a dog-eared copy of Mein Kampf and belonged to a neo-Nazi group…
http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/14/bigot-bonus
…This is why I am grateful that one courageous soul finally has stood
up to the menacing influence of Big Cereal. Yes, Food and Drug
Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg has had enough of
deceitful infiltration of Cheerios, demanding that General Mills cease
and desist a marketing campaign that peddles the fallacious claim that
the oat-based cereal can lower cholesterol. Why stop with oats? Trix
are not only for kids, you know. Lucky Charms are nowhere close to
being "magically" delicious. What Lucky Charms does do is perpetuate
the stereotype that the Irish are a bunch of oft-inebriated jerks -
which everyone knows is only true about 70 percent of the time. Isn't
there a statute we can pass in Congress to end the hate? …
http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/14/theyre-tragically-delicious
