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Widespread Implications for McDonald v. Chicago?: Our interest in a single Supreme Court case has perhaps never been as high as it is in a case currently being briefed. The issues are fascinating on several levels, and the potential impact of a ruling is big. The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, for which the court granted cert on Sept. 30. The petitioners in the case, a group challenging a gun-control ordinance in Chicago, filed their brief with the court earlier this week. Were the court to adopt their position - something well within the realm of possibility - we could be looking at a significant shift in the way the justices view the Constitution and individual rights… Of course, nothing says the justices need to use the PI [Privileges and Immunities] Clause, which was largely neutered by the Slaughter-House Cases opinion in 1868, in order to extend the Second Amendment to the states. But at least one justice, Clarence Thomas, has voiced a willingness to revisit the issue. In a dissent in a 1999 case, Thomas wrote: "the demise of the Privileges or Immunities Clause has contributed in no small part to the current disarray of our 14th Amendment jurisprudence." To clarify things, "I would be open to re-evaluating its meaning in an appropriate case."
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/19/will-chicagos-gun-control-law-lead-to-constitutional-reawakening/
As I mentioned yesterday, the petitioner's brief in McDonald v. City of Chicago written by Alan Gura asks the Supreme Court to overrule The Slaughterhouse Cases and adopt a very different interpretation of the Fouteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause. The obvious question is, how many Justices will agree? My guess: only one. In this post, I want to peer into my crystal ball and see how each of the Justices (or group of Justices) will react to Gura's argument…
http://volokh.com/2009/11/17/how-many-votes-to-overrule-the-slaughterhouse-cases/
Let's say someone hired me to write an amicus brief in the McDonald Second Amendment case, and my goal was to get the Court to overrule the SlaughterHouse Cases (holding that the Privileges or Immunities Clause is a virtual nullity) and get the Court to hold that the Clause protects a right to bear arms, how would I go about it? First, I would recount the scholarly consensus that SlaughterHouse was incorrectly decided, in that the P or I Clause was meant to provide substantive protection for individual rights beyond the extremely narrow category of rights enumerated in SlaughterHouse…
http://volokh.com/2009/11/18/how-id-approach-the-privileges-or-immunities-issue-in-mcdonald/
…When choosing between the two pending cases in the Seventh Circuit, why would four Justices grant cert on the McDonald case in which the challenge was focused on the Privileges or Immunities Clause and deny cert on NRA case, which confined its argument to the Due Process Clause? Why would they have rejected the City of Chicago's proposal which limited the question presented to Due Process? …
http://volokh.com/2009/11/18/predicting-the-mcdonald/
…"The brief really is aimed more at the center left of the court, because I believe we've got the political right of the court on our side based on the Heller decision," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. "I think our brief at minimum will make some of the liberals a little uncomfortable, because, while they may not be for guns, they're for rights - and what we're looking to do is really expand the Bill of Rights in general in its interpretation as it's applied to the states." …"I really believe we are going to win," Gottlieb said. "My firm belief is that the Court would have never taken this case if they didn't want to reverse what's out there now."
http://publicnuisancewire.com/stories/210999-must-states-abide-by-the-second-amendment
As a critical Second Amendment case goes before the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, Jon Tester, D-Mont., and U.S. Reps. Mike Ross D-Ark., and Mark Souder, R-Ind., are gathering signatures for an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief by members of Congress… The brief describes Congress' debates on the Fourteenth Amendment, and points out the many occasions - from 1866 to 2005 - when Congress has spoken in favor of the Second Amendment as protecting a right of all Americans, and taken action to protect that right against actions such as gun confiscation and predatory lawsuits. It also makes the case for Congress's interest (under its constitutional war powers) in preserving an armed citizenry as part of America's national defense…
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20091119/OPINION03/911190318
State Rep. Shane Jett's signature will join that of numerous state lawmakers around the country on a brief that will be submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court for an upcoming case challenging state and local bans of the right to keep and bear firearms. McDonald v. Chicago challenges the constitutionality of the Chicago gun ban and will soon be heard by the Supreme Court. Jett said he is responding to a National Rifle Association request for state lawmakers to sign an amicus curiae (or "friend of the court") brief… Jett said that gun rights are near and dear to the heart of many rural Americans, and especially to Oklahomans…
http://www.countywidenews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=94&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=2192&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2396&hn=countywidenews&he=.com
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Prohibitionists Ask Big Brother to Ban Five-seveN Pistol: In a letter sent today to the White House, America's six national gun violence prevention (GVP) organizations - the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Violence Policy Center, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, and States United to Prevent Gun Violence - as well as 21 state and regional GVP groups strongly urged President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to ban the import into the U.S. of the FN Herstal Five-seveN armor-piercing semiautomatic pistol. [See http://www.vpc.org/obamaletter.pdf for a copy of the letter.] A Five-seveN was used in the Fort Hood attack earlier this month that left 13 dead and 34 wounded. The Belgian-made weapon, widely available on the U.S. civilian market, is also a favorite of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs), who refer to it as the "mata policia," or "cop killer." … (Apples plus oranges make fruit salad, not necessarily logic. With ammunition that is already highly restricted, the Five-seveN is capable of shooting through soft body armor, as are virtually all centerfire rifles. This is completely irrelevant to incident at Fort Hood as none of the military personnel were wearing such armor and the police officer who was shot was hit in an arm and a leg. In fact, had Hasan brushed up on his skill with speedloaders, he would probably have scored a higher fatality rate had he opted to use his .357 Magnum revolver.)
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/19-5
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Utah Firearms Freedom Bill Advances: The federal government has no right to regulate guns made, sold and used within Utah, state lawmakers at a committee hearing decided Wednesday. The Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee advanced a bill that its sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, calls the "Firearms Freedom Act." If upheld in federal courts - a big if, considering past rulings on states' rights - Utahns purchasing Utah-made guns would not face federal requirements such as background checks. "I love the idea of the firearms," said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, "and I love to swipe at the federal government on this one." The bill taps the flip side of the Constitution's commerce clause, which the federal government used to impose civil-rights legislation, among other rules, on companies doing business across state lines. Modeled after a measure that Montana lawmakers passed this year, it asserts that the federal government lacks enforcement powers when no interstate commerce exists. The bill would maintain a federal prohibition on machine guns, but otherwise would leave regulation of locally produced guns to the state. Perry Dayton, the senator's son and former intern who helped present the bill Wednesday, said there are a few gun makers in Utah, but "nothing on a real large scale." …
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13818284
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CNN Smears Oath Keepers: CNN has jumped on the Oath Keepers-smearing bandwagon: "An anti-Obama group is recruiting members from the military and law enforcement. CNN's Jim Acosta reports." That's quite an assumption there. Both in their characterization of the group and in what they say Acosta is doing. Their purpose is not to be anti-Obama. It is to uphold their oath to the Constitution. When Obama upholds his, Oath Keepers will be behind him. Founder Stewart Rhodes gets some on-camera face time, and naturally the subject of guns comes up. Acosta seems incredulous when he asks Rhodes who is talking about taking guns away. The administration and their congressional allies are talking about it, and what's more, they are doing things to incrementally erode our right to keep and bear arms…
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d19-CNN-goes-after-Oath-Keepers
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Oregon Appeals Court Rules against Teacher: In a case funded by the Oregon FIrearms Educational Foundation, Jane Doe Vs Medford School District, the court ruled that Oregon's preemption statute does not protect employees from gun restrictions imposed on them by state employers. This case, which got international attention, pitted a Medford school teacher against her employer. When it was learned that the teacher, Shirley Katz, possessed a concealed handgun license, her school and school district began a campaign of abuse and threats against her. We agreed to take her case to court. After the Circuit Court ruled that the school could, in fact, create rules to prevent her from possessing a self-defense firearm, we appealed. The Court's decision can be seen here…
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/11/18/oregon-appeals-court-rules-against-gun-owners-again/
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Florida Sheriff Supports Exercise of RKBA: Whether it's a fear of increased gun control or a perceived rise in crime, the numbers show more people than ever are buying guns and getting permits to carry them. At least one area sheriff tells Channel 4's Rob Sweeting that is a good thing… Florida approved more than 90,000 permits to carry a weapon last year and already sent out 75,000 applications this year… The fear of stricter gun control under a Barack Obama administration is often cited as one reason gun sales have increased, but most people Sweeting asked about their reasons for getting a gun said it has to do with the rise in crime - or at least the perception of it. "When I'm alone in a parking lot, coming out of stores, going into stores or have the grandchildren with me, I feel I need it in today's world, that extra protection," Donna Rodgers said. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler doesn't blame her. He said the average wait time for an officer to arrive at a call is eight minutes, and a lot could happen in that time… (When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. It's refreshing to see a sheriff who acknowledges that.)
http://www.news4jax.com/news/21667630/detail.html
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Oops, Wrong Store: An employee at an East St. Louis [IL] business opened fire and killed one of two would-be robbers. Police said the employee was inside the BFM Market in the 1000 block of Bond Avenue around 4:00 a.m. when two men pried open a front door and broke into the business. The employee shot one of the suspects in the chest. Police said someone, possibly the second suspect, took the injured suspect to an East St. Louis hospital where he died. Officers continue to search for the second suspect. Investigators were interviewing the employee who was on duty at the time to determine if there may be others involved.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=190043
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Oops, Wrong Gas Station: Two men attempted to Rob Gifford's gas station in Reader [WV] Sunday night, but all they got away with were some ventilation holes in their getaway vehicle. At approximately 11:20 p.m. a man went to the residence next door to the station and asked owner Tom Gifford if he could use his phone because his car had broken down. Gifford got the phone and when he turned around, the man was holding a knife and a second man wearing a ski mask was in his house holding a pistol. The unmasked man asked for money and drugs; Gifford complied… The duo led Gifford back to the store where they wanted more money and items. "They wanted into the safe," said Gifford. What the perpetrators didn't know was that the store owner had a loaded pistol ready on top of the safe. "When they saw the gun, I was going to shoot them, but the safety was on," said Gifford. "When I finally got it off they had run out of the building." The owner then exited the building and unloaded seven shots into their vehicle as they were speeding away, headed south on state Route 20. The duo was in a white passenger van with a small blue stripe. The money that was taken from Gifford was recovered as it was dropped on the ground about 25 yards down the road. "The sheriff's deputy asked why I shot at them seven times," said Gifford. "I told him I ran out of ammunition. If I had a machine gun I would have emptied that too." … (The machine-gun remark is about as bright as not knowing how to release the safety on one's handgun in a timely manner. In most states it is not legal for a citizen to use deadly force once the crime is no longer being committed.)
http://www.wetzelchronicle.com/page/content.detail/id/502037/Robbery-Thwarted-By-Shots.html?nav=5001
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Oops, Wrong Grenades: The military-style hand grenades seized this week in west Phoenix are similar to the grenades available on the Internet, at Army surplus stores and at gun shows. Arizona Department of Public Safety detectives found the 23 weapons inert and crudely plugged at the bottom by U.S. quarters and Mexican coins, though they could be converted into improvised explosive devices - similar to any makeshift pipe bomb. Some Phoenix officers question if the grenades were the same batch a robbery sergeant claimed he had access to in August through a random tip from an informant in a case that triggered internal investigations. Sgt. Phil Roberts, a former Phoenix robbery investigator temporarily assigned to patrol in the wake of his August complaint, claimed to be within 100 feet of the grenade dealer when a robbery lieutenant told him to back off the case… Two of the three men arrested on suspicion of selling the grenades for $400 apiece are believed to be undocumented immigrants from Mexico, according to DPS… (These are definitely not the military-grade grenades reportedly being used by Mexican drug cartels.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/11/20/20091120grenades1120.html
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Maybe It Was Just a Rule Two Reminder: A Weehawken police officer accidentally shot himself in the hand yesterday morning at police headquarters and underwent surgery last night. Patrolman Michael DeBari, 45, shot himself in the palm of his left hand between his pinky and his ring finger with a 9mm handgun. The bullet went right through his hand, family members said last night from Hackensack University Medical Center, where the surgery was performed. DeBari had taken the magazine from the gun and was taking the bullet from the chamber when the gun went off, his wife, Gladys DeBari, said. Her husband told her that he never touched the trigger, she said… (I shared a shorter report on this incident last week. While it's hard to see how the pistol would have discharged if his finger had not touched the trigger, his hand should definitely not have been in front of the muzzle. In the early 20th century the US Army asked John Browning to move the cocking serrations on his .45-caliber pistol to the rear of the slide, to reduce the risk of this type of occurrence. Nowadays it is quite fashionable to have cocking serrations at the front of the slide as well. Rule Two: Never let the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.)
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/secaucus/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1257924328304500.xml&coll=3
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Retrial Ordered for Man Who Killed Officer: The state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial Tuesday for Cory Maye, convicted of shooting to death a Prentiss police officer who raided his home… Maye testified he was sleeping Dec. 26, 2001, when police burst into his home. He said he shot officer Ron Jones in self-defense, but a Marion County jury in 2004 concluded he was guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to die by lethal injection. In 2006, Circuit Judge Michael Eubanks tossed out the death sentence after concluding Maye's former lawyer failed to represent her client adequately during the penalty phase of the trial. The judge sentenced Maye to life in prison without parole. On Tuesday, the Appeals Court concluded Maye deserves a second trial, contending that his trial should have been held, as he requested, in Jefferson Davis County since that is where the crime took place… (Earlier descriptions of this case have depicted Maye as an individual who defended himself in what he perceived to be a home invasion.)
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091118/NEWS/911180360/1001/news/Retrial-ordered-in-officer-s-killing
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With Friends Like These…: A gunman went on a rampage on the Pacific resort island of Saipan Friday, first at a shooting range and then at a World War II historical site, killing four people and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself, officials said… Police said the attacker first took aim inside the shooting range in the community of Kannat Tabla, killing two men in their early 20s and the two children. A 4-year-old girl was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the chest… Authorities said the suspected shooter was a contract worker in his 30s or 40s from Asia, but did not provide his name or home country. However, several residents said the man was known as "Mr. Lee" and they believe he was from China. The Pacific News Center identified the gunman as Lee Zhong Ren, an employee at the shooting range. The news station also reported that Lee left behind a suicide note that spoke of a business deal gone bad… Saipan is the main island of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which has about 60,000 residents and is located about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Saipan is a popular tourist destination among South Koreans, with more than 111,000 South Koreans visiting the island in 2008, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority…
http://www.newsmax.com/us/us_saipan_shooting/2009/11/20/288933.html
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http://www.spw-duf.info
Widespread Implications for McDonald v. Chicago?: Our interest in a single Supreme Court case has perhaps never been as high as it is in a case currently being briefed. The issues are fascinating on several levels, and the potential impact of a ruling is big. The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, for which the court granted cert on Sept. 30. The petitioners in the case, a group challenging a gun-control ordinance in Chicago, filed their brief with the court earlier this week. Were the court to adopt their position - something well within the realm of possibility - we could be looking at a significant shift in the way the justices view the Constitution and individual rights… Of course, nothing says the justices need to use the PI [Privileges and Immunities] Clause, which was largely neutered by the Slaughter-House Cases opinion in 1868, in order to extend the Second Amendment to the states. But at least one justice, Clarence Thomas, has voiced a willingness to revisit the issue. In a dissent in a 1999 case, Thomas wrote: "the demise of the Privileges or Immunities Clause has contributed in no small part to the current disarray of our 14th Amendment jurisprudence." To clarify things, "I would be open to re-evaluating its meaning in an appropriate case."
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/19/will-chicagos-gun-control-law-lead-to-constitutional-reawakening/
As I mentioned yesterday, the petitioner's brief in McDonald v. City of Chicago written by Alan Gura asks the Supreme Court to overrule The Slaughterhouse Cases and adopt a very different interpretation of the Fouteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause. The obvious question is, how many Justices will agree? My guess: only one. In this post, I want to peer into my crystal ball and see how each of the Justices (or group of Justices) will react to Gura's argument…
http://volokh.com/2009/11/17/how-many-votes-to-overrule-the-slaughterhouse-cases/
Let's say someone hired me to write an amicus brief in the McDonald Second Amendment case, and my goal was to get the Court to overrule the SlaughterHouse Cases (holding that the Privileges or Immunities Clause is a virtual nullity) and get the Court to hold that the Clause protects a right to bear arms, how would I go about it? First, I would recount the scholarly consensus that SlaughterHouse was incorrectly decided, in that the P or I Clause was meant to provide substantive protection for individual rights beyond the extremely narrow category of rights enumerated in SlaughterHouse…
http://volokh.com/2009/11/18/how-id-approach-the-privileges-or-immunities-issue-in-mcdonald/
…When choosing between the two pending cases in the Seventh Circuit, why would four Justices grant cert on the McDonald case in which the challenge was focused on the Privileges or Immunities Clause and deny cert on NRA case, which confined its argument to the Due Process Clause? Why would they have rejected the City of Chicago's proposal which limited the question presented to Due Process? …
http://volokh.com/2009/11/18/predicting-the-mcdonald/
…"The brief really is aimed more at the center left of the court, because I believe we've got the political right of the court on our side based on the Heller decision," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. "I think our brief at minimum will make some of the liberals a little uncomfortable, because, while they may not be for guns, they're for rights - and what we're looking to do is really expand the Bill of Rights in general in its interpretation as it's applied to the states." …"I really believe we are going to win," Gottlieb said. "My firm belief is that the Court would have never taken this case if they didn't want to reverse what's out there now."
http://publicnuisancewire.com/stories/210999-must-states-abide-by-the-second-amendment
As a critical Second Amendment case goes before the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, Jon Tester, D-Mont., and U.S. Reps. Mike Ross D-Ark., and Mark Souder, R-Ind., are gathering signatures for an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief by members of Congress… The brief describes Congress' debates on the Fourteenth Amendment, and points out the many occasions - from 1866 to 2005 - when Congress has spoken in favor of the Second Amendment as protecting a right of all Americans, and taken action to protect that right against actions such as gun confiscation and predatory lawsuits. It also makes the case for Congress's interest (under its constitutional war powers) in preserving an armed citizenry as part of America's national defense…
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20091119/OPINION03/911190318
State Rep. Shane Jett's signature will join that of numerous state lawmakers around the country on a brief that will be submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court for an upcoming case challenging state and local bans of the right to keep and bear firearms. McDonald v. Chicago challenges the constitutionality of the Chicago gun ban and will soon be heard by the Supreme Court. Jett said he is responding to a National Rifle Association request for state lawmakers to sign an amicus curiae (or "friend of the court") brief… Jett said that gun rights are near and dear to the heart of many rural Americans, and especially to Oklahomans…
http://www.countywidenews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=94&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=2192&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2396&hn=countywidenews&he=.com
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Prohibitionists Ask Big Brother to Ban Five-seveN Pistol: In a letter sent today to the White House, America's six national gun violence prevention (GVP) organizations - the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Violence Policy Center, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, and States United to Prevent Gun Violence - as well as 21 state and regional GVP groups strongly urged President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to ban the import into the U.S. of the FN Herstal Five-seveN armor-piercing semiautomatic pistol. [See http://www.vpc.org/obamaletter.pdf for a copy of the letter.] A Five-seveN was used in the Fort Hood attack earlier this month that left 13 dead and 34 wounded. The Belgian-made weapon, widely available on the U.S. civilian market, is also a favorite of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs), who refer to it as the "mata policia," or "cop killer." … (Apples plus oranges make fruit salad, not necessarily logic. With ammunition that is already highly restricted, the Five-seveN is capable of shooting through soft body armor, as are virtually all centerfire rifles. This is completely irrelevant to incident at Fort Hood as none of the military personnel were wearing such armor and the police officer who was shot was hit in an arm and a leg. In fact, had Hasan brushed up on his skill with speedloaders, he would probably have scored a higher fatality rate had he opted to use his .357 Magnum revolver.)
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/19-5
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Utah Firearms Freedom Bill Advances: The federal government has no right to regulate guns made, sold and used within Utah, state lawmakers at a committee hearing decided Wednesday. The Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee advanced a bill that its sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, calls the "Firearms Freedom Act." If upheld in federal courts - a big if, considering past rulings on states' rights - Utahns purchasing Utah-made guns would not face federal requirements such as background checks. "I love the idea of the firearms," said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, "and I love to swipe at the federal government on this one." The bill taps the flip side of the Constitution's commerce clause, which the federal government used to impose civil-rights legislation, among other rules, on companies doing business across state lines. Modeled after a measure that Montana lawmakers passed this year, it asserts that the federal government lacks enforcement powers when no interstate commerce exists. The bill would maintain a federal prohibition on machine guns, but otherwise would leave regulation of locally produced guns to the state. Perry Dayton, the senator's son and former intern who helped present the bill Wednesday, said there are a few gun makers in Utah, but "nothing on a real large scale." …
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13818284
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CNN Smears Oath Keepers: CNN has jumped on the Oath Keepers-smearing bandwagon: "An anti-Obama group is recruiting members from the military and law enforcement. CNN's Jim Acosta reports." That's quite an assumption there. Both in their characterization of the group and in what they say Acosta is doing. Their purpose is not to be anti-Obama. It is to uphold their oath to the Constitution. When Obama upholds his, Oath Keepers will be behind him. Founder Stewart Rhodes gets some on-camera face time, and naturally the subject of guns comes up. Acosta seems incredulous when he asks Rhodes who is talking about taking guns away. The administration and their congressional allies are talking about it, and what's more, they are doing things to incrementally erode our right to keep and bear arms…
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d19-CNN-goes-after-Oath-Keepers
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Oregon Appeals Court Rules against Teacher: In a case funded by the Oregon FIrearms Educational Foundation, Jane Doe Vs Medford School District, the court ruled that Oregon's preemption statute does not protect employees from gun restrictions imposed on them by state employers. This case, which got international attention, pitted a Medford school teacher against her employer. When it was learned that the teacher, Shirley Katz, possessed a concealed handgun license, her school and school district began a campaign of abuse and threats against her. We agreed to take her case to court. After the Circuit Court ruled that the school could, in fact, create rules to prevent her from possessing a self-defense firearm, we appealed. The Court's decision can be seen here…
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/11/18/oregon-appeals-court-rules-against-gun-owners-again/
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Florida Sheriff Supports Exercise of RKBA: Whether it's a fear of increased gun control or a perceived rise in crime, the numbers show more people than ever are buying guns and getting permits to carry them. At least one area sheriff tells Channel 4's Rob Sweeting that is a good thing… Florida approved more than 90,000 permits to carry a weapon last year and already sent out 75,000 applications this year… The fear of stricter gun control under a Barack Obama administration is often cited as one reason gun sales have increased, but most people Sweeting asked about their reasons for getting a gun said it has to do with the rise in crime - or at least the perception of it. "When I'm alone in a parking lot, coming out of stores, going into stores or have the grandchildren with me, I feel I need it in today's world, that extra protection," Donna Rodgers said. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler doesn't blame her. He said the average wait time for an officer to arrive at a call is eight minutes, and a lot could happen in that time… (When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. It's refreshing to see a sheriff who acknowledges that.)
http://www.news4jax.com/news/21667630/detail.html
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Oops, Wrong Store: An employee at an East St. Louis [IL] business opened fire and killed one of two would-be robbers. Police said the employee was inside the BFM Market in the 1000 block of Bond Avenue around 4:00 a.m. when two men pried open a front door and broke into the business. The employee shot one of the suspects in the chest. Police said someone, possibly the second suspect, took the injured suspect to an East St. Louis hospital where he died. Officers continue to search for the second suspect. Investigators were interviewing the employee who was on duty at the time to determine if there may be others involved.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=190043
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Oops, Wrong Gas Station: Two men attempted to Rob Gifford's gas station in Reader [WV] Sunday night, but all they got away with were some ventilation holes in their getaway vehicle. At approximately 11:20 p.m. a man went to the residence next door to the station and asked owner Tom Gifford if he could use his phone because his car had broken down. Gifford got the phone and when he turned around, the man was holding a knife and a second man wearing a ski mask was in his house holding a pistol. The unmasked man asked for money and drugs; Gifford complied… The duo led Gifford back to the store where they wanted more money and items. "They wanted into the safe," said Gifford. What the perpetrators didn't know was that the store owner had a loaded pistol ready on top of the safe. "When they saw the gun, I was going to shoot them, but the safety was on," said Gifford. "When I finally got it off they had run out of the building." The owner then exited the building and unloaded seven shots into their vehicle as they were speeding away, headed south on state Route 20. The duo was in a white passenger van with a small blue stripe. The money that was taken from Gifford was recovered as it was dropped on the ground about 25 yards down the road. "The sheriff's deputy asked why I shot at them seven times," said Gifford. "I told him I ran out of ammunition. If I had a machine gun I would have emptied that too." … (The machine-gun remark is about as bright as not knowing how to release the safety on one's handgun in a timely manner. In most states it is not legal for a citizen to use deadly force once the crime is no longer being committed.)
http://www.wetzelchronicle.com/page/content.detail/id/502037/Robbery-Thwarted-By-Shots.html?nav=5001
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Oops, Wrong Grenades: The military-style hand grenades seized this week in west Phoenix are similar to the grenades available on the Internet, at Army surplus stores and at gun shows. Arizona Department of Public Safety detectives found the 23 weapons inert and crudely plugged at the bottom by U.S. quarters and Mexican coins, though they could be converted into improvised explosive devices - similar to any makeshift pipe bomb. Some Phoenix officers question if the grenades were the same batch a robbery sergeant claimed he had access to in August through a random tip from an informant in a case that triggered internal investigations. Sgt. Phil Roberts, a former Phoenix robbery investigator temporarily assigned to patrol in the wake of his August complaint, claimed to be within 100 feet of the grenade dealer when a robbery lieutenant told him to back off the case… Two of the three men arrested on suspicion of selling the grenades for $400 apiece are believed to be undocumented immigrants from Mexico, according to DPS… (These are definitely not the military-grade grenades reportedly being used by Mexican drug cartels.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/11/20/20091120grenades1120.html
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Maybe It Was Just a Rule Two Reminder: A Weehawken police officer accidentally shot himself in the hand yesterday morning at police headquarters and underwent surgery last night. Patrolman Michael DeBari, 45, shot himself in the palm of his left hand between his pinky and his ring finger with a 9mm handgun. The bullet went right through his hand, family members said last night from Hackensack University Medical Center, where the surgery was performed. DeBari had taken the magazine from the gun and was taking the bullet from the chamber when the gun went off, his wife, Gladys DeBari, said. Her husband told her that he never touched the trigger, she said… (I shared a shorter report on this incident last week. While it's hard to see how the pistol would have discharged if his finger had not touched the trigger, his hand should definitely not have been in front of the muzzle. In the early 20th century the US Army asked John Browning to move the cocking serrations on his .45-caliber pistol to the rear of the slide, to reduce the risk of this type of occurrence. Nowadays it is quite fashionable to have cocking serrations at the front of the slide as well. Rule Two: Never let the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.)
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/secaucus/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1257924328304500.xml&coll=3
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Retrial Ordered for Man Who Killed Officer: The state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial Tuesday for Cory Maye, convicted of shooting to death a Prentiss police officer who raided his home… Maye testified he was sleeping Dec. 26, 2001, when police burst into his home. He said he shot officer Ron Jones in self-defense, but a Marion County jury in 2004 concluded he was guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to die by lethal injection. In 2006, Circuit Judge Michael Eubanks tossed out the death sentence after concluding Maye's former lawyer failed to represent her client adequately during the penalty phase of the trial. The judge sentenced Maye to life in prison without parole. On Tuesday, the Appeals Court concluded Maye deserves a second trial, contending that his trial should have been held, as he requested, in Jefferson Davis County since that is where the crime took place… (Earlier descriptions of this case have depicted Maye as an individual who defended himself in what he perceived to be a home invasion.)
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20091118/NEWS/911180360/1001/news/Retrial-ordered-in-officer-s-killing
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With Friends Like These…: A gunman went on a rampage on the Pacific resort island of Saipan Friday, first at a shooting range and then at a World War II historical site, killing four people and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself, officials said… Police said the attacker first took aim inside the shooting range in the community of Kannat Tabla, killing two men in their early 20s and the two children. A 4-year-old girl was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the chest… Authorities said the suspected shooter was a contract worker in his 30s or 40s from Asia, but did not provide his name or home country. However, several residents said the man was known as "Mr. Lee" and they believe he was from China. The Pacific News Center identified the gunman as Lee Zhong Ren, an employee at the shooting range. The news station also reported that Lee left behind a suicide note that spoke of a business deal gone bad… Saipan is the main island of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which has about 60,000 residents and is located about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Saipan is a popular tourist destination among South Koreans, with more than 111,000 South Koreans visiting the island in 2008, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority…
http://www.newsmax.com/us/us_saipan_shooting/2009/11/20/288933.html
