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Once Again, in a Gun-Free Zone...: The top commander at Fort Hood is
crediting a civilian police officer for stopping the shooting rampage
that killed 13 people at the Texas post. Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said Friday
that Fort Hood police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and her partner responded
within three minutes of reported gunfire Thursday afternoon. Cone said
Munley shot the gunman four times despite being shot herself.
Officials said Munley was in stable condition. Cone said, "It was an
amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer." Cone
also said he was inspired by a woman who helped carry a wounded victim
and used her blouse as a tourniquet, then later realized she'd been
shot in the hip. The suspected gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is
hospitalized on a ventilator. (Military personnel are generally
disarmed on their own bases unless they are participating in live-fire
training. As in civilian life, such prohibitions do not affect
committed criminals.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110601112.html
http://townhall.com/news/us/2009/11/06/army_civilian_officer_shot_gunman,_ended_rampage
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Privacy and the RKBA: The forcible citizen disarmament lobby is well
aware that they're unlikely to win the War on Guns in the immediate
future. That's alright with them, though, because they have the
patience to fight the long war. One of the fronts on which they fight
the war on private gun ownership is the push to make gun ownership
less, well . . . private. We see it with the efforts to close the
mythical "gun show loophole," which is not only not a "loophole," but
is also not confined to gun shows - they want to ban all private
sales, whether at gun shows or not… Even without such a licensing
scheme, there is much to object to in physicians' growing nosiness
about guns in the home. With the accelerating trend to push all
medical care providers to compile all their patients' health records
in an electronic database, to which the government has access, this,
too becomes a de facto gun registry. The bottom line is that one's
ownership of firearms is no one else's business, and an attack on gun
owners' privacy is an attack on private gun ownership, anathema to
anyone who cherishes the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental
human right of the individual to keep and bear arms - the right that
shall not be infringed.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d5-The-war-on-gun-owners-privacy
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Texas Students Sue to Wear Empty Holsters: Two community college
students who favor carrying concealed weapons are challenging their
school's restrictions on campus protests. Clayton Smith and John
Schwertz Jr. announced Thursday that they have filed a federal lawsuit
in Dallas against the Tarrant County College District. They contend
the college system restricts their First Amendment rights by
controlling the time, place and manner of protests. The students plan
to participate in a nationwide demonstration next week known as "empty
holster protests," calling attention to policies forbidding concealed
weapons on campus. School officials limited the protest to a
designated area and prohibited students from wearing empty holsters…
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/TCC-Students-Challenge-Protest-Restrictions-69304607.html
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Gun-Hating Merchant Buys Gun: Mike Mataria said he hates guns, but a
second apparent armed robbery at one of his convenience stores
"forced" him to buy one. "I never thought of guns until this moment,"
Mataria said Wednesday morning, a few hours after the robbery of his
store in Grove City [PA], Broad Street Market. Mataria said he was
prompted to check out a gun store because of the Broad Street Market
robbery, three armed robberies last week in Sharon, Hermitage and
Farrell, and an attempted armed robbery in Brookfield. He bought a 9
mm handgun Wednesday at Elite Firearms, Hermitage, and plans to fire
it for the first time Friday at the store's indoor shooting range.
Mataria is a native of Palestine who has owned Sharpsville Food Mart
for about seven years, and Broad Street Market for about three. He
said this is the "scariest" time he's had since he went into business…
(One can only hope that he will learn to keep his finger out of the
trigger guard until the sights are on the selected target and he's
prepared to fire.)
http://www.sharon-herald.com/homepage/local_story_308221550.html?keyword=leadpicturestory
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Better Late then Never: There is nothing unusual going on at Bea's
loading bench, except this 78 year old grandmother has been a
handgunner for just over a year, and now she is loading her own .45
ammo! Her journey as a shooter has been rather remarkable, but she has
always had lots of pioneer moxie, and she is still an active person
who wants to be able to defend herself and her home… Bea next learned
to handle revolvers by starting with her son's Ruger Single-Six, and
she found that she could shoot it more accurately than she could with
the little Walther. She got lucky and found a used Single-Six in
excellent condition at her local Scheel's store, and soon she was
shooting the revolver more than the auto. Her son then introduced her
to centerfire with a Ruger Blackhawk, and she found that shooting
.38's was easy for her. She looked at the options with Ruger
Blackhawks, and when the Scheel's store got a .45 convertible, she
bought it. The big slow bullets are easy for her to handle, even
though she weighs less than 110. At the range she will shoot several
cylinders through the Single-Six, and then one or two through the
Blackhawk, then switch back to the .22. Careful practice has kept her
from developing flinch problems…
Rule One, Two, Three Reminder: Los Angeles Dodgers righthander Vicente
Padilla was recovering yesterday in his native Nicaragua from a bullet
wound in his leg after a target-shooting instructor accidentally shot
him. Physician Eduardo Reguera said Padilla, a former Phillie who
signed with the Dodgers in August, did not need surgery. A police
spokesman said Padilla's pistol apparently jammed late Tuesday. He
handed the pistol to a shooting instructor, a former police captain,
who didn't realize there was a bullet in the chamber and shot himself
in his hand, Padilla's legal adviser, Roberto Calderon, told the
Associated Press. The bullet grazed the pitcher's leg. (The Rules:
http://www.spw-duf.info/safety.html)
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20091105_Sports_in_Brief__Gunshot_grazes_L_A__s_Padilla.html
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d5-Does-Padilla-shooting-mean-athletes-should-swear-off-guns
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Canadian Liberal Bucked Party Line: It's rare that an MP parts with
his leader on a national issue that is defining for political parties
and divisive among Canadians. Jean-Claude D'Amours did just that
Wednesday evening. A free vote on a Conservative MP's private member's
bill allowed D'Amours to make up his own mind without having to follow
the dictates of Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff. And D'Amours
concluded it's time to scrap the long-gun registry. In doing so, he
lined up with seven other Liberals, 12 New Democrats and one
Independent who helped the minority Conservative government easily
pass Bill C-391. Why? "Hunting guns are for sports, generally, and I
can't be against that," the MP for largely rural, northern riding of
Madawaska-Restigouche said Thursday. "We should review how the system
works now to better reflect the reality of rural Canada... With
unanimous Tory support, the bill passed by a vote of 164-137. If it
becomes law, the bill would permanently remove the requirement to
register rifles and shotguns, expunge records on more than seven
million firearms and plow under a $1-billion taxpayer investment. The
move would save taxpayers only $3 million or so a year because
handguns and prohibited weapons will still have to be registered…
(Canada restricts rifles with barrels shorter than 18 inches, as
opposed to the 16-inch limit in the US.)
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/848568
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When Guns Are Outlawed…: A gunman wounded three men near Tokyo on
Friday before hiding in a building and apparently killing himself - a
rare shooting spree that police said was gang-related. Police
attempted to negotiate with the gunman but then burst into the
building in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo, after they lost
contact. Inside, they found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head,
said police spokesman Shigeki Umehara. Investigators found a revolver
at his side, which he apparently used to kill himself, he said. Police
identified the gunman as Kenji Hayashi, a 62-year-old member of the
third-largest gangster group in Japan, the Inagawa-kai… Guns are
strictly controlled in Japan, and shootings are rare, though when they
do occur, they are often linked to gangsters, known as yakuza, or
Japanese mafia. Yakuza typically make their income from extortion,
gambling, prostitution, gunrunning, drug-trafficking and construction
kickback schemes…
When Swords Are Outlawed…: Gardai (Irish police) carried out several
smash and grab raids in Dublin's north inner city last Monday and
confiscated 7,000 Samurai swords. The raids were instigated by the
Crime Prevention Unit in tandem with the Neighborhood Policing Unit,
District Detective Unit and Divisional Crime Task Force, and rank as
one of the largest hauls of banned weapons ever. Two Chinese men were
questioned but released without charge as further investigations
continue, and the Director of Public Prosecutions has been sent a file
on the case. Samurai Swords were banned in Ireland on September 1…
"The seizure of such a vast quantity of samurai swords should reduce
significantly any threat these swords might have proved to the
public." (Perhaps samurai swords are more dangerous than their
European cousins. Maybe their lighter weight allows them to be swung
at a higher velocity.)
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Irish-authorities-swoop-to-seize-7000-samurai-swords-69287017.html
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Kalashnikov Celebrates 90th Birthday: …The story of how he designed
the AK-47 has been shrouded in legend and rumour. A semi-literate boy
from a large farming family beat some of the top small-arms designers
in a competition for the best assault rifle. How did it happen? …From
the start, Kalashnikov clearly identified his own principles of
design: his rifle should be simple and reliable. However, success
proved to be elusive. It was only in 1947, after the failure of
numerous prototypes, that Kalashnikov's design was accepted in a
competition organised by the defence procurement agency… This autumn
is a special time for Kalashnikov. Before his 90th birthday, he
celebrated the 60th anniversary of his joining the weapons factory in
Izhevsk, a historical city of gunsmiths about 600 miles north-east of
Moscow… As for his vision of small arms evolution, Kalashnikov is
confident that the upgraded AK rifles will reign supreme for at least
25 years, until the advent of new, high-power cartridges. In general,
gun makers will continue to design weapons for better precision and
penetration through modern body armour and light obstacles.
