By permission from: Stephen P. Wenger
http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by the same
---
GOA Releases Congressional Ratings: With one of the biggest elections of our lifetimes only a month away, Gun Owners of America has now released its Congressional Ratings for the House and Senate. Democrats have taken a radical turn to the left under the leadership of liberal anti-gunners like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama, and the electorate is ready to make a correction. There is no doubt that the country is at a crossroads, with America's Constitutional Republic hanging in the balance. So the GOA Rating Guide is your tool for cutting through the bull that candidates are throwing at you during this election season. Candidates who have established a voting record, either in the office for which they are running or in another elected office, are evaluated primarily on the basis of that voting record. If an incumbent or challenger has not established a voting record or demonstrated his or her position in some other way, that candidate is evaluated on the basis of his or her responses to the GOA 2010 Federal Candidate Questionnaire. You can go to http://gunowners.org/2010-candidate-ratings-guide.htm to see the ratings of every candidate on Second Amendment issues… To learn more about candidates endorsed by Gun Owners of American Political Victory Fund, please visit www.goapvf.org.
http://gunowners.org/a093010.htm
http://gunowners.org/2010-candidate-ratings-guide.htm
http://www.goapvf.org/
---
From Jeff Knox: Attacks on Sharron Angle, constitutional conservative Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada, have been eclipsed in the national media recently by attacks on Christine O'Donnell, constitutional conservative Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Delaware, but the attacks on Angle continue in Nevada – where they really count. These attacks on Angle and O'Donnell – and indeed on all of the constitutional conservative candidates – follow a premeditated formula to discredit the candidates and shift attention to some personal trait, belief or experience and away from any substantive debate… They leave the clear suggestion that anyone who believes the Second Amendment means what it says, or who thinks lower taxes can generate more tax revenue, or that the federal government should not do things which it is not authorized to do in the Constitution – good, important, helpful, "for the children" things – should be dismissed as a "radical" and an "extremist," a "nut-job," and basically an idiot, out of touch with the mainstream (and reality) and clearly unfit to hold public office…
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=210041
---
From Larry Pratt: Many Americans recently lamented the six-month anniversary of ObamaCare, a law that is guaranteed to result in tremendous violations of our gun rights. How do we know that? We know because of what the feds have already been doing with legislation that George Bush signed two years ago. With the passage of the Veterans Disarmament Act in 2008, Congress granted the Veterans Administration (VA) the authority to computerize the medical records of veterans and ship them to the FBI. Any diagnosis that could be interpreted as "might be a danger to self or others" results in the vet being denied his right to keep and bear arms. People with concealed carry permits are denied renewals. Customers at gun stores are turned down. In one recent case, a GOA member visited a VA hospital for a couple of days and soon after returning home, state authorities knocked on the door and confiscated his guns. There is a campaign at the VA to come in and get the "treatment you deserve." TV ads to this effect have been run. Obama has announced new regulations to make it easier for war vets to get help. Warning: With help like this, you don't need enemies…
http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2010/oct/01/you-have-be-nuts-see-shrink/news-opinion-editorial/
---
MFFA – Next Stop, Ninth Circuit: A federal judge in Missoula has dismissed a lawsuit by gun rights advocates and states seeking freedom from federal gun laws, a move that the advocates promised to appeal. The decision Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy was expected since his magistrate a month ago recommended tossing out the lawsuit because Congress has the authority to regulate firearms with its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. Molloy sided with the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued Congress' ability to regulate guns and other items through the "commerce clause" of the U.S. Constitution had long ago been decided in courts. The lawsuit involving Montana, Utah, Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia argued that states should decide which rules, if any, would control the sale and purchase of guns and paraphernalia made inside their borders. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution assures that the federal government only has those powers that are specifically given to it by the Constitution, the states said…
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hX-wisTxWMzVFAvXNcdOwK8EXubgD9IIFV3O0?docId=D9IIFV3O0
---
Chicago Mayor Sidesteps Self-Defense Shooting: Mayor Daley, who's always happy to condemn guns, doesn't want to talk about the senior who Wednesday shot the boy who was throwing bricks at her and her house. "No, this is strictly on topic," Daley said. WLS-AM's Bill Cameron asked Daley at a Thursday morning news conference, but they mayor only wanted to talk about a new volunteer program. "The reason we're on topic is so we can get those who spoke, not only Mayor Daley but others, so the media maybe can report about the press conference," Daley said. So what does Daley plan to volunteer for next year after he leaves office? "I'll tell you that when I'm out of office," Daley said. The elderly South Side woman defending herself with a gun is precisely why gun rights groups and the Supreme Court say Americans have a right to bear arms.
http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=1970466&spid=
---
San Diego Settles Open-Carry-Arrest Lawsuit: … I've had to hold this in for almost two years but now the case is settled so I'm free to post. I believe that following the arrest and my claim against the city of San Diego, some factions at SDPD conspired with Saldana to cobble together AB1934, (a so-incredibly-unConstitutional piece of legislation that it boggles the mind) which spectacularly failed at the last minute. It wasn't all bad though. Some cops got educated, Saldana got put in her place, and best of all The Responsible Citizens of California was founded… (Lengthy transcript of the arrest incident, which also included a refusal to provide identification, accounts for six separate pages. The introduction to the account states that the city got off with a settlement of $35,000.)
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-1
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-2
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-3
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-4
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-5
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-6
---
Wisconsin Open-Carry Incident, More Details: Here's the recording of the 911 call that triggered charges against five citizens for lawfully carrying holstered handguns. It's definitely worth listening to it. It's very intriguing how the operator, after advising the caller that open carry is legal decides that there may be an issue if the woman was concerned enough to call. I certainly hope a jury gets to hear this recording.
http://tijil.org/Madison_5_911_call.mp3
And an Inane Commentary: Five pistol-packin' strangers recently scared the dickens out of a 62-year-old woman at a Madison Culver's, and she called the cops. But now the cops are the ones who are in trouble. They'd walked into a piece of Second Amendment street theater and not an armed stand off. But they didn't know that until they demanded some ID and explanation from the gunslingers. It turns out that cops can't do that in Wisconsin, and these officers were set up by Wisconsin Carry, a gun rights group, to show cheeseheads they live in an oppressive police state. And just to drive the point home, Wisconsin Carry is now suing the city of Madison and its police chief, claiming the cops engaged in a "blatant and defenseless violation of the rights of law-abiding citizens." Those officers really should have known the guys packing heat were law abiding, just by sniffing the air for their good intentions. And we'd like to congratulate members of Wisconsin Carry on securing their Second Amendment rights, while scaring ButterBurger fans. (Hart Van Denburg does not appear to have listened to the 911 tape, linked above.)
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/09/wisconsin_culve.php
---
Meanwhile, In Washington…: On the heels of a Sept. 28 encounter between an Open Carry activist and four Pierce County Sheriff's deputies at a Spanaway Starbucks, more than a dozen members of OpenCarry.org are planning to gather at the same coffee shop on Saturday at 10 a.m. in a show of support for their comrade. The incident has sparked outrage on the Open Carry forum, primarily because the armed citizen in this case managed to capture most of it on audio, and there is a link provided on the website. It is worth a listen so everyone can make up their own minds about this. Jim Beal, the always-articulate SeaTac-based activist who has brought Open Carry to the headlines more than once in Washington State, told this column that he will be there and he expects "between 15 and 20" other activists to also converge on the event, at 15803 Pacific Avenue South. It may be one more opportunity for the Open Carry crowd to show its financial support for Starbucks, which stood up to the Brady Bunch campaign of hysteria…
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/open-carry-group-plans-saturday-solidarity-gathering-pierce-county
---
Where's Waldo (the Gunrunner)?: Searches of vehicles crossing into Mexico are yielding few weapons in what U.S. officials concede is a frustrating effort to slow the flow of guns to violent Mexican cartels operating across the U.S. border. Almost immediately after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a stepped-up vehicle search program beginning in March 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials went five consecutive months – May through September – without recovering a single weapon in El Paso, within sight of the bloodiest battleground in the Mexican drug war. Weapons seizures from vehicles moving through the Southwest border's busiest crossings have increased to 310 so far in fiscal year 2010, up from 155 in fiscal year 2009, CBP records show. Besides guns, weapons include grenades and rockets. Yet the seizures represent a tiny fraction of arms flooding Mexico from the USA, at a rate of 2,000 per day, according to Brookings Institution estimates… (Could it be that Brookings and the media are mistaken? Could it be that the cartels in Ciudad Juárez are getting their weapons from Mexican military and police sources? I do not see grenades and rockets in Arizona gun shops or gun shows. If they have been seized in El Paso, they most likely were stolen from Fort Bliss.)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-30-weapons-mexico-border_N.htm?csp=usat.me
---
National Bank of Arizona/Zions Bank, Utah: I just got off the phone with a customer-service supervisor at Zions Bank in Salt Lake City UT. Zions is the parent bank of National Bank of Arizona, which earlier this week posted "no firearms" - using the official sign for bars and restaurants that serve alcohol and prefer to maintain defenseless-victim zones. Jane Seegmiller informed me that she was advised to tell me that the bank has the right to post those signs and that corporate headquarters stands behind the Arizona decision to do so. Needless to say, my funds will be moving out of National Bank shortly and I encourage other customers of National Bank and Zions Bank to do the same.
---
Bringing an Attitude to a Gunfight: Brains and brawn allowed Rep. Tim Solobay to fend off four hooded youths who held him up at gunpoint Tuesday night in Harrisburg [PA]. "One of them said something like, 'Give me all your money,'" said Solobay, a Democrat from Canonsburg who is the volunteer fire chief there. First, he lunged at two of them, slamming them into his Dodge Durango. Three of the four ran away, Solobay said. Solobay, 54, then climbed into his truck and closed the door before he looked out the window and saw the barrel of a pistol pointed at his face. Seconds later, he turned on the vehicle's fire siren, and the last attacker fled… (The list member who furnished this link advises that Solobay is a co-sponsor to Pennsylvania's current castle-doctrine bill but did not comment on why he was not armed.)
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_701905.html
---
Rule Four Reminder: An American woman who says she killed her husband after mistaking him for a bear while hunting in Newfoundland has been found not guilty of criminal negligence causing death in the fatal shooting. A judge delivered his verdict Friday in the trial of Mary Beth Harshbarger of Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. Harshbarger told authorities she mistook her 42-year-old husband for a bear while the two were hunting in central Newfoundland in 2006. She had pleaded not guilty. The prosecution said Harshbarger showed disregard for safety when she fired her rifle at her husband. The defense portrayed the death as an accident. Harshbarger would have faced a sentence of four years to life in prison if she had been convicted. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://townhall.com/news/world/2010/10/01/hunter_who_shot_husband_found_not_guilty
---
Tangentially Related: To protect the nation's air travelers, federal air marshals deployed after the 2001 terrorist attacks try to travel incognito, often in pairs, and choose flights identified with the potential to fall under threat. And they almost always fly first class – something some airlines would like to change. With cockpit doors fortified and a history of attackers choosing coach seats, some airline executives and security experts question whether the first-class practice is really necessary – or even a good idea. It could weaken security by isolating marshals or making them easier for terrorists to identify, airline executives say. With more threats in the coach cabin now, first-class clustering may not make as much security sense. Security experts say bombers are a bigger threat today than knife-wielding attackers trying to get through secure cockpit doors, and Transportation Security Administration checkpoints are heavily focused on explosives, whether hidden in shoes, liquids or under clothes. Some believe bombers try to target areas over the wing – a structurally critical location and also the site of fuel storage – to cause the most damage to the aircraft… (Color me cynical. While I claim no knowledge of where the marshals actually sit or where it makes the most sense for them to sit, I suspect that the biggest concern of the airlines is to get back more high-dollar first-class seat to sell to the public. It was the airlines that lobbied to end the original requirement that pilots of all planes carrying US mail be armed and they have not been supporters of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. A 2004 book, Never Again: A Self-Defense Guide for the Flying Public, was marketed to the public after the airline industry rejected the program to train cabin personnel to resist skyjackers.)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575521832473932878.html?mod=djemLifeStyle_h
GOA Releases Congressional Ratings: With one of the biggest elections of our lifetimes only a month away, Gun Owners of America has now released its Congressional Ratings for the House and Senate. Democrats have taken a radical turn to the left under the leadership of liberal anti-gunners like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama, and the electorate is ready to make a correction. There is no doubt that the country is at a crossroads, with America's Constitutional Republic hanging in the balance. So the GOA Rating Guide is your tool for cutting through the bull that candidates are throwing at you during this election season. Candidates who have established a voting record, either in the office for which they are running or in another elected office, are evaluated primarily on the basis of that voting record. If an incumbent or challenger has not established a voting record or demonstrated his or her position in some other way, that candidate is evaluated on the basis of his or her responses to the GOA 2010 Federal Candidate Questionnaire. You can go to http://gunowners.org/2010-candidate-ratings-guide.htm to see the ratings of every candidate on Second Amendment issues… To learn more about candidates endorsed by Gun Owners of American Political Victory Fund, please visit www.goapvf.org.
http://gunowners.org/a093010.htm
http://gunowners.org/2010-candidate-ratings-guide.htm
http://www.goapvf.org/
---
From Jeff Knox: Attacks on Sharron Angle, constitutional conservative Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada, have been eclipsed in the national media recently by attacks on Christine O'Donnell, constitutional conservative Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Delaware, but the attacks on Angle continue in Nevada – where they really count. These attacks on Angle and O'Donnell – and indeed on all of the constitutional conservative candidates – follow a premeditated formula to discredit the candidates and shift attention to some personal trait, belief or experience and away from any substantive debate… They leave the clear suggestion that anyone who believes the Second Amendment means what it says, or who thinks lower taxes can generate more tax revenue, or that the federal government should not do things which it is not authorized to do in the Constitution – good, important, helpful, "for the children" things – should be dismissed as a "radical" and an "extremist," a "nut-job," and basically an idiot, out of touch with the mainstream (and reality) and clearly unfit to hold public office…
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=210041
---
From Larry Pratt: Many Americans recently lamented the six-month anniversary of ObamaCare, a law that is guaranteed to result in tremendous violations of our gun rights. How do we know that? We know because of what the feds have already been doing with legislation that George Bush signed two years ago. With the passage of the Veterans Disarmament Act in 2008, Congress granted the Veterans Administration (VA) the authority to computerize the medical records of veterans and ship them to the FBI. Any diagnosis that could be interpreted as "might be a danger to self or others" results in the vet being denied his right to keep and bear arms. People with concealed carry permits are denied renewals. Customers at gun stores are turned down. In one recent case, a GOA member visited a VA hospital for a couple of days and soon after returning home, state authorities knocked on the door and confiscated his guns. There is a campaign at the VA to come in and get the "treatment you deserve." TV ads to this effect have been run. Obama has announced new regulations to make it easier for war vets to get help. Warning: With help like this, you don't need enemies…
http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2010/oct/01/you-have-be-nuts-see-shrink/news-opinion-editorial/
---
MFFA – Next Stop, Ninth Circuit: A federal judge in Missoula has dismissed a lawsuit by gun rights advocates and states seeking freedom from federal gun laws, a move that the advocates promised to appeal. The decision Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy was expected since his magistrate a month ago recommended tossing out the lawsuit because Congress has the authority to regulate firearms with its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. Molloy sided with the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued Congress' ability to regulate guns and other items through the "commerce clause" of the U.S. Constitution had long ago been decided in courts. The lawsuit involving Montana, Utah, Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia argued that states should decide which rules, if any, would control the sale and purchase of guns and paraphernalia made inside their borders. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution assures that the federal government only has those powers that are specifically given to it by the Constitution, the states said…
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hX-wisTxWMzVFAvXNcdOwK8EXubgD9IIFV3O0?docId=D9IIFV3O0
---
Chicago Mayor Sidesteps Self-Defense Shooting: Mayor Daley, who's always happy to condemn guns, doesn't want to talk about the senior who Wednesday shot the boy who was throwing bricks at her and her house. "No, this is strictly on topic," Daley said. WLS-AM's Bill Cameron asked Daley at a Thursday morning news conference, but they mayor only wanted to talk about a new volunteer program. "The reason we're on topic is so we can get those who spoke, not only Mayor Daley but others, so the media maybe can report about the press conference," Daley said. So what does Daley plan to volunteer for next year after he leaves office? "I'll tell you that when I'm out of office," Daley said. The elderly South Side woman defending herself with a gun is precisely why gun rights groups and the Supreme Court say Americans have a right to bear arms.
http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=1970466&spid=
---
San Diego Settles Open-Carry-Arrest Lawsuit: … I've had to hold this in for almost two years but now the case is settled so I'm free to post. I believe that following the arrest and my claim against the city of San Diego, some factions at SDPD conspired with Saldana to cobble together AB1934, (a so-incredibly-unConstitutional piece of legislation that it boggles the mind) which spectacularly failed at the last minute. It wasn't all bad though. Some cops got educated, Saldana got put in her place, and best of all The Responsible Citizens of California was founded… (Lengthy transcript of the arrest incident, which also included a refusal to provide identification, accounts for six separate pages. The introduction to the account states that the city got off with a settlement of $35,000.)
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-1
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-2
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-3
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-4
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-5
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/open-carry-false-arrest-costs-san-diego-35-000-part-6
---
Wisconsin Open-Carry Incident, More Details: Here's the recording of the 911 call that triggered charges against five citizens for lawfully carrying holstered handguns. It's definitely worth listening to it. It's very intriguing how the operator, after advising the caller that open carry is legal decides that there may be an issue if the woman was concerned enough to call. I certainly hope a jury gets to hear this recording.
http://tijil.org/Madison_5_911_call.mp3
And an Inane Commentary: Five pistol-packin' strangers recently scared the dickens out of a 62-year-old woman at a Madison Culver's, and she called the cops. But now the cops are the ones who are in trouble. They'd walked into a piece of Second Amendment street theater and not an armed stand off. But they didn't know that until they demanded some ID and explanation from the gunslingers. It turns out that cops can't do that in Wisconsin, and these officers were set up by Wisconsin Carry, a gun rights group, to show cheeseheads they live in an oppressive police state. And just to drive the point home, Wisconsin Carry is now suing the city of Madison and its police chief, claiming the cops engaged in a "blatant and defenseless violation of the rights of law-abiding citizens." Those officers really should have known the guys packing heat were law abiding, just by sniffing the air for their good intentions. And we'd like to congratulate members of Wisconsin Carry on securing their Second Amendment rights, while scaring ButterBurger fans. (Hart Van Denburg does not appear to have listened to the 911 tape, linked above.)
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/09/wisconsin_culve.php
---
Meanwhile, In Washington…: On the heels of a Sept. 28 encounter between an Open Carry activist and four Pierce County Sheriff's deputies at a Spanaway Starbucks, more than a dozen members of OpenCarry.org are planning to gather at the same coffee shop on Saturday at 10 a.m. in a show of support for their comrade. The incident has sparked outrage on the Open Carry forum, primarily because the armed citizen in this case managed to capture most of it on audio, and there is a link provided on the website. It is worth a listen so everyone can make up their own minds about this. Jim Beal, the always-articulate SeaTac-based activist who has brought Open Carry to the headlines more than once in Washington State, told this column that he will be there and he expects "between 15 and 20" other activists to also converge on the event, at 15803 Pacific Avenue South. It may be one more opportunity for the Open Carry crowd to show its financial support for Starbucks, which stood up to the Brady Bunch campaign of hysteria…
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/open-carry-group-plans-saturday-solidarity-gathering-pierce-county
---
Where's Waldo (the Gunrunner)?: Searches of vehicles crossing into Mexico are yielding few weapons in what U.S. officials concede is a frustrating effort to slow the flow of guns to violent Mexican cartels operating across the U.S. border. Almost immediately after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a stepped-up vehicle search program beginning in March 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials went five consecutive months – May through September – without recovering a single weapon in El Paso, within sight of the bloodiest battleground in the Mexican drug war. Weapons seizures from vehicles moving through the Southwest border's busiest crossings have increased to 310 so far in fiscal year 2010, up from 155 in fiscal year 2009, CBP records show. Besides guns, weapons include grenades and rockets. Yet the seizures represent a tiny fraction of arms flooding Mexico from the USA, at a rate of 2,000 per day, according to Brookings Institution estimates… (Could it be that Brookings and the media are mistaken? Could it be that the cartels in Ciudad Juárez are getting their weapons from Mexican military and police sources? I do not see grenades and rockets in Arizona gun shops or gun shows. If they have been seized in El Paso, they most likely were stolen from Fort Bliss.)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-30-weapons-mexico-border_N.htm?csp=usat.me
---
National Bank of Arizona/Zions Bank, Utah: I just got off the phone with a customer-service supervisor at Zions Bank in Salt Lake City UT. Zions is the parent bank of National Bank of Arizona, which earlier this week posted "no firearms" - using the official sign for bars and restaurants that serve alcohol and prefer to maintain defenseless-victim zones. Jane Seegmiller informed me that she was advised to tell me that the bank has the right to post those signs and that corporate headquarters stands behind the Arizona decision to do so. Needless to say, my funds will be moving out of National Bank shortly and I encourage other customers of National Bank and Zions Bank to do the same.
---
Bringing an Attitude to a Gunfight: Brains and brawn allowed Rep. Tim Solobay to fend off four hooded youths who held him up at gunpoint Tuesday night in Harrisburg [PA]. "One of them said something like, 'Give me all your money,'" said Solobay, a Democrat from Canonsburg who is the volunteer fire chief there. First, he lunged at two of them, slamming them into his Dodge Durango. Three of the four ran away, Solobay said. Solobay, 54, then climbed into his truck and closed the door before he looked out the window and saw the barrel of a pistol pointed at his face. Seconds later, he turned on the vehicle's fire siren, and the last attacker fled… (The list member who furnished this link advises that Solobay is a co-sponsor to Pennsylvania's current castle-doctrine bill but did not comment on why he was not armed.)
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_701905.html
---
Rule Four Reminder: An American woman who says she killed her husband after mistaking him for a bear while hunting in Newfoundland has been found not guilty of criminal negligence causing death in the fatal shooting. A judge delivered his verdict Friday in the trial of Mary Beth Harshbarger of Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. Harshbarger told authorities she mistook her 42-year-old husband for a bear while the two were hunting in central Newfoundland in 2006. She had pleaded not guilty. The prosecution said Harshbarger showed disregard for safety when she fired her rifle at her husband. The defense portrayed the death as an accident. Harshbarger would have faced a sentence of four years to life in prison if she had been convicted. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://townhall.com/news/world/2010/10/01/hunter_who_shot_husband_found_not_guilty
---
Tangentially Related: To protect the nation's air travelers, federal air marshals deployed after the 2001 terrorist attacks try to travel incognito, often in pairs, and choose flights identified with the potential to fall under threat. And they almost always fly first class – something some airlines would like to change. With cockpit doors fortified and a history of attackers choosing coach seats, some airline executives and security experts question whether the first-class practice is really necessary – or even a good idea. It could weaken security by isolating marshals or making them easier for terrorists to identify, airline executives say. With more threats in the coach cabin now, first-class clustering may not make as much security sense. Security experts say bombers are a bigger threat today than knife-wielding attackers trying to get through secure cockpit doors, and Transportation Security Administration checkpoints are heavily focused on explosives, whether hidden in shoes, liquids or under clothes. Some believe bombers try to target areas over the wing – a structurally critical location and also the site of fuel storage – to cause the most damage to the aircraft… (Color me cynical. While I claim no knowledge of where the marshals actually sit or where it makes the most sense for them to sit, I suspect that the biggest concern of the airlines is to get back more high-dollar first-class seat to sell to the public. It was the airlines that lobbied to end the original requirement that pilots of all planes carrying US mail be armed and they have not been supporters of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. A 2004 book, Never Again: A Self-Defense Guide for the Flying Public, was marketed to the public after the airline industry rejected the program to train cabin personnel to resist skyjackers.)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575521832473932878.html?mod=djemLifeStyle_h
