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Did You Take Your Haldol Today?: …But what the amendment says is a
sentence, not a phrase. Read in its entirety and kept in context, the
right to keep and bear arms is contingent on the need for a free State
to maintain a well-regulated militia. In as much that few private gun
owners belong to a militia- well regulated or not--one could argue
that the right DOES NOT apply to the general masses… In 2010, it's not
just a right to own a firearm as interpreted by the Supreme Court, it
is a necessity to be armed for ones own protection as well as for the
safety of ones home and family. The balance comes from legal and
responsible ownership to include registration and safe storage of a
weapon. Too often, a firearm in a home has become the means by which
a family member or friend is accidentally killed or injured. Perhaps
it's time for the Second Amendment to be amended to clarify the right
and to remove any ambiguity. It would certainly remove the question
as a political litmus test and allow our candidates to talk about the
issues that are more pressing - like unemployment, property taxes, and
medical costs. (I don't have the space to highlight all the non
sequiturs…Haldol® or haloperidol is a potent antipsychotic drug, used
primarily to treat disorders of thought.)
New York to Facilitate Firearm Seizures: A-7733A, Authorizes courts to
revoke firearms license and seize the weapons of certain individuals,
just passed the Assembly. Senate companion is S-5456. From the Bill:
"to amend the penal law, the criminal procedure law, and the mental
hygiene law, in relation to authorizing court to revoke the firearms
license and seize weapons of certain individuals"
"Firearm, rifle or shotgun surrender order. Upon entry of a verdict
of not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect, or upon the
acceptance of a plea of not responsible by reason of mental disease or
defect, the court shall revoke the defendant's firearm license,"
"Issuance of court order authorizing involuntary care and treatment
under this article. In issuing any order or determination under this
article that a person is in need of involuntary care and treatment or
that there is a need for retention of such person, the court shall
revoke such person's firearm license, if any, inquire of the person as
to the existence and location of any firearm, rifle or shotgun owned
or possessed by such person and 2 direct the surrender of such
firearm, rifle or shotgun…"
(I don't know what it is about New York law that distinguishes a rifle
or shotgun from a firearm. Perhaps, in the context of licensing,
"firearm" only refers to a handgun.)
http://www.ammoland.com/2010/04/21/new-york-assembly-to-allow-courts-to-seize-your-guns/
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The Sky Is Falling in California: Assembly Bill 1934, is moving
through legislation that will make it illegal to openly carry a gun in
public. On Tuesday, gun control advocates argued against gun owners,
defending their Second Amendment rights, to keep and bear arms. The
Assembly Public Safety Committee passed the bill sending it to the
Appropriations Committee. "What I'm concerned about is people who have
no training can carry a gun for no other purpose than to make a public
statement," said Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Saldana of San Diego,
who introduced legislation that would prohibit packing unloaded guns
in plain sight. Saldana, testified wearing a bullet proof vest to
emphasize the point that unloaded guns pose a threat because they can
be loaded in seconds. "Open carry advocates have displayed weapons
along Pacific Beach and elsewhere in the San Diego region in
demonstrations, raising concerns among some citizens and drawing
police to investigate," Saldana said… (While open carry has its
adherents even in jurisdictions where citizens have the option of
carrying discreetly without breaking the law, I believe that the
primary public statement being made by open-carry demonstrators in
California is that they are being denied that option arbitrarily by
local sheriffs and chiefs. Few law-abiding Californians would carry an
exposed, unloaded pistol if they could obtain a CWP upon completion of
the minimum training mandate.)
California City Violates Preemption: Prompted by the prospect of a gun
store opening in town, on April 6, 2010, the Emeryville City Council
("ECC") adopted an ordinance that, among other things, requires
firearm vendors to obtain a permit from the Chief of Police and
conduct a biannual inventory of all firearms possessed by the vendor,
and also prohibits those between the ages of 18 and 21 years from
entering a gun store where handguns are kept. The ordinance is a
variation of the Legal Community Against Violence's ("LCAV") model
ordinance for firearm vendors, which was pushed in San Mateo and
Oakland in the past few months. The City passed these ill-conceived
ordinances despite promises of lawsuits from the NRA and CRPA. These
suits are forthcoming…
http://www.ammoland.com/2010/04/21/emeryville-ca-bans-gun-stores/
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Arkansas – It Gets Worse: In February, this column reported on the
Oath Keepers and Arkansas laws which pertained to emergency powers and
the confiscation of firearms (State of Emergency Gun Control). Since
the time the article first appeared, discovery has been made of other
pertinent state laws, requiring a very important update to the story.
As stated in the earlier article, emergency powers laws give state
troops the power to shut down gun stores and forbid the trade or
transfer of firearms. What wasn't clear at the time was the existence
of another state law which provides a way for local governments
(cities, municipalities and counties) to ban ammunition and the
transfer, transportation and carrying of firearms for a few weeks.
This law can also possibly be misinterpreted as a way to completely
disarm the people of local governments…
Will Washington Follow Arizona on Constitutional Carry?: …One might
argue that a major reason this legislation makes sense is because of
Arizona's ironclad state constitutional right to bear arms provision.
Article 2, Section 26 of Arizona's Constitution, adopted in 1912,
reads: "The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of
himself or the State shall not be impaired, but nothing in this
section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations
to organize, maintain, or employ an armed body of men." And that
brings us around to Washington State, which adopted its constitution
in 1889. Arizona copied our constitutional right to bear arms
provision word-for-word. The provisions are identical. We have had a
concealed carry statute since at least 1935, and Washington's
preemption statute adopted in 1983 and amended in 1985 has served as a
model for similar laws in other states… In an ideal world, there
would be no permit or license to carry, because one should not need
permission from the government to exercise a civil right. Lawmakers
and gun rights activists in Alaska and Arizona have "broken trail" for
Washington State gun owners. Fair enough; we led the way on
preemption. Arizona had to wait for a Republican governor and
legislature to get their law changed. That's certainly something to
think about, eh?
And the Connection Is?: Records from an inquest into the notorious
1881 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, have been
discovered in a court storeroom. The scrawled notes are a transcript
of a witness statement about the shootout between lawmen including
Wyatt Earp and three outlaws, who were killed. The documents were last
seen about 1960 when they were photocopied. Researchers hope that
restoration by archivists will reveal margin notes not visible on the
reproductions… Earlier this month Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a
Republican, signed into law a measure allowing Arizonans to carry
concealed firearms without a permit. (Anyone interested in what really
happened back then in Tombstone should read The Real Wyatt Earp: A
Documentary Biography by Steve Gatto [ISBN 0-944383-51-3].)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8636830.stm
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One Picture Is Worth…: USA Today offers a very nice graph showing the
drop in support for a ban on private ownership of handguns from 2004
to 2009.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/snapshot.htm?section=N&label=2010-04-19-gunowners
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Homeowner's Dilemma: Just after 10 p.m. on Monday night, April 19th,
Little Rock [AR] homeowner Rachel Woods went to her door in response
to a knock. When she asked who was there, a voice said, "Little Rock
Police". She called her husband on her cell phone, who then advised
she should disable the house alarm and let them in. When she attempted
to disable the alarm, the door was kicked in and three men with
"Police" on their shirts forced their way in. The official police
report gives this description… Complicating matters even more, a
similar incident took place in North Little Rock in January, 2008.
This time, however, the intruders were the North Little Rock SWAT
team. The North Little Rock Police had a legal warrant, but had the
wrong house number. In this incident, the homeowner had simply picked
up a gun beside his bed when he heard windows breaking and the door
being kicked in. He was then shot several times, .223 caliber bullets
narrowly missing his heart and almost severing his leg… (My house is
equipped with a surveillance system, whose cameras cover all windows
and doors. The cameras and wireless receiver cost me $200 and the
dedicated TV to monitor them cost only a little more; it was having
the power lines run to each camera that ran up the price. Even if you
cannot afford such a system, you may still want to go further than the
traditional peephole in the front door. Battery-powered peephole
cameras are available
[http://store.komando.com/p-731-easy-view-peephole-display.aspx]. If
they're not in full uniform, I would ask for ID and the warrant to be
slid under the door.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-33857-Fort-Smith-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m4d21-Home-invasion-cop-or-not
Tangentially Related: The Court of Appeals of Indiana has overturned
the conviction of a man who resisted a warrantless entry to his home.
…Barnes argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it
refused to give the following jury instruction:
When an arrest is attempted by means of a forceful and unlawful entry
into a citizen's home, such entry represents the use of excessive
force, and the arrest cannot be considered peaceable. Therefore, a
citizen has the right to reasonably resist the unlawful entry.
http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/page.htm?shortname=ininco20100415219
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Oops, Wrong Apartment: Urbana [IL] police are investigating the fatal
shooting of a Champaign man who broke into an apartment in that city
early Thursday. Police Lt. Bryant Seraphin said Jerry J. Jackson, 21,
of the 1200 block of West Kirby Avenue, died at Carle Foundation
Hospital after being shot inside an apartment in the 2400 block of
Prairie Green Drive in Urbana about 12:20 a.m. Seraphin said Mr.
Jackson was one of two men armed with guns who forced their way into
the apartment, which was occupied by a 19-year-old Urbana man and his
18-year-old girlfriend from Champaign. The male tenant began
struggling with the intruders and the woman was able to get away,
Seraphin said. The tenant got control over the weapon and fired
several shots, striking Mr. Jackson, who collapsed there. The second
intruder, who was not immediately identified, ran from the home… (It
is not uncommon for me to share reports of victims who disarm their
assailants but the reverse is extremely rare.)
Oops, Wrong House: Beatrice Turner traded her shotgun 30 years ago for
a .22-caliber handgun that she keeps in her bedroom for protection.
Tuesday morning, the 89-year-old woman fired the weapon for the first
time. An intruder bashed in the front door of Turner's east-side Des
Moines [IA] house about 5:30 a.m. Turner said she yelled at the man,
telling him he had the wrong house and warned him she would shoot if
he came inside… Turner fired one shot - and missed. "I squeezed it
again but it didn't go off," she said. "By then he was pounding on the
coffee table." …A neighbor who heard the gunshot called police. When
officers arrived at Turner's house, located north of Hiatt Middle
School, they found Nelson McAlpine, 37, standing in the front yard.
Officers asked him if he lived there, and he said, 'No.' McAlpine
reportedly told police he had been using drugs and didn't know where
he was, officers said… (It looks to me like she's holding a
single-action revolver, which might explain why she was unable to fire
the second shot. I have never been fond of single-action revolvers for
self-defense and, if my surmise is correct, this would be a good
argument against their selection by people who may only fire them for
the first time under strress. Caliber selection is another matter,)
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201004210405/NEWS01/4210357
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Rule Five Reminder: After a 4-year-old accidentally shot and killed
himself Tuesday, some experts are looking at how tough or lenient the
state's current gun laws are. Police said 4-year-old Luke Daniels and
his 2-year-old brother were home with the baby sitter, later
identified as Margaret Duran. Police said Duran told them that Daniels
was napping in the master bedroom when she heard a "pop" sound. She
said she went to check on the boy and thought he had fallen from the
bed. Police said she called 911, then found the gun lying on the
floor. Daniels later died at University of New Mexico Hospital… (Rule
Five: Maintain control of your firearm. A while back, a list member
expressed concern that my repeated inclusion of these Rule Five
reminders places gunners at increased risk of legal action. As I
suggest in my signature block and is demonstrated by the remainder of
the linked article, if we fail to accomplish firearm safety by
education, we run the risk of draconian legislation.)
http://www.koat.com/news/23226724/detail.html
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Speaking of Eddie Eagle…: The Wooster Daily-Record reported recently
that a group of kindergartners at Wooster Christian School recently
had the opportunity to meet Eddie, interact with him, and learn about
gun safety, all thanks to the efforts of the Wooster Police
Department… The story goes on to note that Eddie is part of the Eddie
Eagle GunSafe program, part of a grant through the National Rifle
Association. The department was awarded $934. It also received a $500
donation from the Izaak Walton League… "The kids are thrilled,"
kindergarten teacher Karen Scully is quoted as saying. "It talks about
things I never touch on." (As I said yesterday, Eddie Eagle is a very
rudimentary program, aimed primarily at younger children. As children
grow older, it is best to demystify firearms by teaching safe handling
and also how to render them safe – by unloading them correctly.)
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7219
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Attention, North Carolina: A change in federal law that allows
firearms in many national parks does not include state parks and
forests or other state recreational areas, including game lands.
According to the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of
Interior, people who can legally possess firearms under federal and
state law can now possess those firearms in the national parks in that
state. This pertains to anyone with a concealed carry permit. National
parks should not be confused with national forests. In North Carolina,
the Nantahala, Pisgah, Uwharrie and Croatan national forests are also
designated as game lands. "Concealed carry permits do not supersede
the other regulations that apply," said Maj. Keith Templeton, with the
Law Enforcement Division of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
"It is up to the individual with a valid concealed carry permit to
know the law and obey it." …
Tangentially Related: Michael Quezada barely knew the girl when she
invited him to her nephew's birthday party. He was 34, she was 18.
They met on a light-rail train and exchanged phone numbers. Her sister
picked him up to bring him to the party at Glendale and 22nd avenues
in Phoenix. Her ex-boyfriend was at the party, too: Corey Zortman, a
big 16-year-old who went to high school with the girl. Before the
night was over, Zortman was dead. Quezada was arrested on suspicion of
his murder… The prosecutor, Deputy County Attorney John Beatty,
theorized that Quezada sneaked up behind Zortman and plunged the knife
into his chest with his right hand. Quezada's defense attorney, Melody
Harmon, noted that Quezada is left-handed. And she related that
Zortman's girlfriend picked up the murder weapon at the scene and put
it in a bag. Quezada testified that Zortman was stabbed with his own
knife as Quezada fought him off. But it did not help Quezada's case
that he initially fabricated a story to police, claiming that another
man stabbed Zortman. He then changed his story on the witness stand.
Quezada also had prior convictions in Texas for aggravated assault and
attempted murder… (The less said to investigators, without legal
counsel, the better. Among the issues here is what is referred to as a
"prior, inconsistent statement" to police. "Were you lying then, Mr.
Quezada, or are you lying now?")
