by permission from Stephen P. Wenger
http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by the same
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More Coverage of MFFA Appeal: A Montana lawsuit that could undercut the authority of the federal government on issues including guns, marijuana, REAL ID, health care, the national guard, taxes and even law enforcement is poised to move to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But even that august body is unlikely to resolve the contentions, since the authors of the original claim, which challenges the feds' authority to regulate guns made, sold and kept within a state, say they need the U.S. Supreme Court to act. "We've believed all along that the federal district court cannot grant the relief we request," said Gary Marbut, chief of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, which along with partner the Second Amendment Foundation brought the original lawsuit against the federal government. "We seek to overturn a half-century of bad precedent. Only the U.S. Supreme Court can do that. In that light the pending dismissal by the district court means little except that we are now free to move to the next step of the process," he said… Once the 9th Circuit rules, Marbut said, the plaintiffs intend to appeal any continuation of the dismissal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Or, he said, the 9th Circuit could return the case to the district court for trial… (The linked article includes a map of Firearms Freedom Acts across the US.)
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=210609
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The Sky Is Falling!: Happy-hour beers were going for $5 at Past Perfect, a cavernous bar just off this city's [Nashville] strip of honky-tonks and tourist shops when Adam Ringenberg walked in with a loaded 9-millimeter pistol in the front pocket of his gray slacks. Mr. Ringenberg, a technology consultant, is one of the state's nearly 300,000 handgun permit holders who have recently seen their rights greatly expanded by a new law – one of the nation's first – that allows them to carry loaded firearms into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. "If someone's sticking a gun in my face, I'm not relying on their charity to keep me alive," said Mr. Ringenberg, 30, who said he carries the gun for personal protection when he is not at work. Gun rights advocates like Mr. Ringenberg may applaud the new law, but many customers, waiters and restaurateurs here are dismayed by the decision… Tennessee is one of four states, along with Arizona, Georgia and Virginia, that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. (Eighteen other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol.) The new measures in Tennessee and the three other states come after two landmark Supreme Court rulings that citizens have an individual right – not just in connection with a well-regulated militia – to keep a loaded handgun for home defense… (According to the map at http://www.opencarry.org/restaurant.html, there are only seven states that do not allow firearms in restaurants that serve alcohol. I do not have the time to do a state-by-state search but there are several states that have not prohibited firearms in bars; some that come to mind are Indiana, Virginia, New Hampshire and New York. When we sought to distinguish bars from restaurants, under Arizona's Alcoholic Beverages Code, in order to make a strictly restaurant-carry bill, the move was opposed by the hospitality-industry lobby, in a failed gamble to block a "guns in bars" bill.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/us/04guns.html?_r=1&ref=us
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The Beat Goes On: …The number of women and suburban residents obtaining concealed handgun permits is on the rise in Texas. According to the Department of Public Safety, last year nearly 31,000 women got a license to carry. That is the most since the state started issuing permits 14 years ago. The majority of those licenses went to people in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. Overall, the state issued 139,000 handgun permits up from 86,000 in 2008… Not everyone thinks guns are the answer when it comes to protecting yourself… Another Austin resident said, "I don't believe that guns should be the first means of self protection; however, I'm respectful of each individual decision." That is an individual decision Robbins believes in. "I believe everybody should carry a gun or at least a right to carry a gun," Robbins said…
http://www.kvue.com/news/Concealed-handgun-permits-on-rise-in-Texas-104250008.html
After Barack Obama was elected president, many Texas gun owners feared they were on the verge of losing their Second Amendment rights — and they stocked up on weapons and ammunition. According to FBI statistics, the number of background checks for the purpose of firearms purchases in Texas increased 29 percent from 2007 to 2009. Texans also sought concealed handgun licenses: In 2009, nearly 139,000 permits were renewed or issued, the most in the history of the state's 15-year-old concealed-handgun law, according to statistics released by the Department of Public Safety… The number of CHL applications skyrocketed 61 percent between 2008 and 2009, from 86,000 to nearly 139,000. The number of licenses granted in 2009 equaled the total number issued in all of 2005 and 2006 combined. Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman, says the agency noticed the spike when employees processing the applications couldn't keep up. DPS was forced to hire temporary workers – and publicly urge applicants to submit paperwork online - to tackle the backlog. "All of a sudden there was this application tsunami that buried us," Mange says. Mange says DPS isn't sure why handgun license requests spiked in 2009 and declines to hazard a guess. Some gun instructors, like Hoot Gibson of San Antonio, are perfectly happy to, insisting that Obama's election was a strong reason for the skyrocketing number of concealed-carry licenses. "That was the major contributing factor," Gibson says…
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/concealed-handgun-law/did-worries-about-obama-spark-chl-applications/
…The number of concealed handgun permits issued last year by the Pueblo County [CO] skyrocketed. The Sheriff's Office issued 545 permits in 2009, or 43 percent more than the 380 it issued in 2008. The 2009 figure is the largest in a seven-year period, officials said.
"I have given out more concealed handgun permits than in the history of the county of Pueblo. That's six or seven permits a day," first-term Sheriff Kirk Taylor said last week. Taylor said he is amazed at the spike in permits but didn't call it concerning. The surge is because of the 2008 election of Democratic President Barack Obama and, according to gun advocates, his track record on gun issues and the threat they say he possess to the Second Amendment right to bear arms…
http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_537e77a4-cf75-11df-8e94-001cc4c03286.html
Even in Costa Rica: The demand for permits to carry firearms has been such that the Dirección de Armas y Explosivos, del Ministerio de Seguridad Pública is now forced to open on Saturdays. Yesterday, 72 people from five security companies were served between the hours of 7:30am and 4:00pm. A bulletin from the Ministerio de Seguridad explains that due to the high demand, Saturdays will be dedicated to serve employees of security firms who have scheduled appointments during the week. The office, located next to the former Aresep building in La Sabana, can handle an application in only 15 minutes, handing over the permit to applicants who have previously applied and have been cleared. This while legislators analyze the various proposals, including one that was presented by Presidenta Laura Chinchilla was she was a legislator, to the laws to regulate private security firms and the use of firearms. Included in the proposals is the regulation on the purchase and possession of firearms, as well as the registration and purchase of ammunition, limiting the number of weapons a person can have to 3 and only those persons with permits be allowed to buy ammunition…
http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/october/03/costarica10100304.htm
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Meanwhile, in Illinois…: Illinois' next governor could very well be called on to act on legislation dealing with two of the more controversial non-budget issues that have divided lawmakers in recent years – concealed carry and same-sex unions. Attempts to legalize both have been tried but have fallen short in the General Assembly. However, advocates believe the climate for both issues may be changing in Springfield. That means the next governor during his term could be faced with signing or vetoing legislation allowing people to carry concealed guns or granting same-sex couples legal protections. Illinois is one of only two states that does not allow its residents to carry concealed weapons. It isn't for lack of trying. Nearly every year in the General Assembly, legislation is introduced to bring concealed carry to Illinois, and every year the legislation falls short of approval. Lawmakers from the urbanized northeast part of the state offset the votes of downstaters more sympathetic to concealed carry. "The climate is changing," said Todd Vandermyde, an Illinois lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. "I think we are closer than we have ever been. We will probably have the most aggressive year you've ever seen." If Republican state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington is in the Executive Mansion when concealed carry passes, the bill likely will be signed into law…
http://www.sj-r.com/state/x1616323976/Civil-unions-concealed-carry-could-confront-next-governor
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Viewed from the Left: The history of civil rights in America is long and multi-faceted, from Rosa Parks keeping her seat on the bus to the Stonewall riots. And now to five guys packing heat while having ButterBurgers at Culver's. Welcome to civil rights 2010. Pro-gun activists are careful not to equate the open-carry movement with the epic struggles of blacks and gays to win basic civil rights, but they see plenty of parallels… The open-carry movement is gaining momentum across the country, and the Sept. 18 confrontation between Madison police and five armed men having dinner at an east-side Culver's has become a rallying point both in Wisconsin and nationwide… Despite the surge of support, the assertion that gun rights and gay rights go hand-in-hand doesn't sit well with everyone. "I don't think it's a very positive connection," says Steve Starkey, executive director of OutReach, Madison's LGBT Community Center. "We have enough challenges trying to win our rights and to talk about the ways we're discriminated against without affiliating with a group that's talking about gun rights." …A few days ago, the city of San Diego ended an open carry case with a $35,000 settlement. That case was settled only weeks after a proposal to outlaw carrying firearms in public died in the California legislature. Other city governments, including Norfolk, Va., and Gonzales, La., have paid out cash to settle federal lawsuits in favor of gun carriers in recent years… (For those who don't recognize it, the Stonewall riots were a response to a police raid on a gay bar in NYC. For such a well researched and even-handed article, I'm surprised to see no mention of Pink Pistols, a gay-oriented RKBA organization.)
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_9fa0c010-cf48-11df-ad8f-001cc4c03286.html
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Las Vegas – in the Wake of the Inquest: At the moment he was shot by three Las Vegas police officers in front of a Costco store on a July afternoon, Erik Scott had potentially fatal levels of the painkiller morphine and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system. Prosecutors during last week's inquest used that information, along with the testimony of Scott's doctors, to paint a picture of the West Point graduate as a prescription drug addict who battled chronic pain. But when the three officers took the stand to testify at the inquest, they said they were never drug- or alcohol-tested after the shooting. Nor was there a blood test for Detective Bryan Yant, the narcotics officer who fired into a darkened bathroom while serving a search warrant on 21-year-old Trevon Cole in June. Cole's blood test results – positive for marijuana use – came up in the inquest into his death. Why the difference in treatment? The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, like most departments nationwide, does not test its officers after critical incidents unless there is a "reasonable suspicion" the officer is under the influence…
http://www.lvrj.com/news/sheriff--police-drug-test-policy--under-review--in-wake-of-scott-case-104231799.html
Costco Wholesale Corporation on Wednesday released a statement addressing the officer-involved shooting of Erik Scott outside its Summerlin store in July. The statement calls Scott's death tragic and touches on the recent criticism from Scott's father that the store "killed Erik." …Company leaders insist employees acted responsibly when they called police and ordered an evacuation of the store after seeing Scott was armed and acting erratically while shopping in the sporting goods aisle. An employee testified that Scott became belligerent after being told of the policy banning guns in the store. The company said it has learned of an upcoming protest at the store, in which managers will be urged to fire employees involved in the incident. "Such actions can only be intended to inflame public sentiment in connection with planned litigation, and have no reasonable relationship to the cause of Mr. Scott's untimely death," the statement reads… (Costco has a long historical link opposition to the RKBA. After merging with Price Club, it was previously known as PriceCostco. Solomon Price, founder of Price Club, was a major contributor to California's 1982 Propostion 15, which would have banned further sales of handguns to private citizens in that state. To my knowledge, Costco still donates to prohibitionist groups, such as the Brady Bunch.)
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25216283/detail.html
Costco's Statement:
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25216062/detail.html
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ISRA Calls for Boycott of AON: The ISRA is calling upon all lawful American firearm owners to stop doing business with AON Corporation and its subsidiaries. This call for a boycott comes after published reports disclosed that AON is bankrolling a fundraiser for the political arm of the nation's most radical gun control organization. Not only is the fundraiser being financed by AON, it is also being held in a posh club atop AON's Chicago headquarters. The October 4th event, which AON will hold on behalf of the "Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence," will raise money to fund the Brady Campaign's efforts to impose severe restrictions on citizens' 2nd Amendment rights. Such restrictions include bans on civilian ownership of handguns, target rifles, and popular hunting firearms. The Brady organization also seeks to shutter small firearm retailers and prohibit law-abiding citizens from using firearms to protect their homes and their families…
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/isra-calls-for-nationwide-boycott-of-aon-insurance-products-104251428.html
http://www.aon.com/default.jsp
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Rule One, Two, Three Reminder: A Southwest Florida man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the face while trying to fight off a skunk. Daniel McDaniels, 31, was at a friend's house Friday when he spotted the skunk. He grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and began loading it with the butt of the rifle on the ground. Manatee County Sheriff's deputies said McDaniels didn't know the gun already had a round in it when he accidentally tripped the trigger, setting off the gun. The bullet pierced the fingers of his right hand and entered his left cheek. His injuries are not life-threatening. (It sounds as though he was loading a tubular magazine, as is usually found mounted below the barrel on most lever-action rifles and a few .22 autoloaders. I'm not familiar with the situation in Florida but rabid skunks are not unusual in most of Arizona – beware of any non-domesticated animal that approaches you, particularly skunks and raccoons. The Rules are posted at http://www.spw-duf.info/safety.html.)
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blotter/florida-man-trying-to-shoo-skunk-accidentally-shoots-951349.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
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From South Africa: Cecelia Steynberg was awoken by the constant barking of her dogs at about 3.15am on Wednesday, spokesperson Sergeant Puleng Motsoeneng said. When she went to investigate she saw a man entering her room with a firearm. She fired a warning shot, but the man continued bearing down on her. She fired another shot, hitting him in the neck. The man is in hospital. (I don't know how the courts view warning shots in South Africa but I would not risk one when an intruder is clearly armed with his own firearm. Among other issues, if a gunfight is on, I may end up needing he extra round.)
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010/10/01/farmer_s-wife-shoots-would-be-robber
Speaking of Warning Shots…: A Sunday morning dispute over dogs turned into a shootout, Bay County [FL] Sheriff's deputies said. No one was injured in the incident, but Garry Alexander, 64, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit. Alexander was "highly intoxicated" when he stepped onto his neighbor's property on Marvin Lane in Southport and began yelling at her about her dogs, deputies wrote, adding that he had a .357 Magnum Taurus revolver in his hand… His neighbor, Janet Keesecker, 49, who works as a manager at a local gas station and was outside when Alexander arrived, grabbed her .38 special from her vehicle and tried to go back into her house, she said. But before she could get back into the house, Alexander fired, Keesecker said during a Sunday afternoon interview. "When he shot the first one, it just missed me," she added. "I didn't even know he was that close with his weapon." Keesecker entered her house and fired once back at Alexander, she said. "I wasn't aiming for anything. I thought if I just shot it he would leave," she added. Instead of retreating, Alexander fired two more shots at Keesecker's house, authorities said. This time, Keesecker stayed inside the home and waited to see what Alexander would do next… (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.newsherald.com/news/fire-87452-returns-shoots.html
http://www.spw-duf.info
comments in () by the same
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More Coverage of MFFA Appeal: A Montana lawsuit that could undercut the authority of the federal government on issues including guns, marijuana, REAL ID, health care, the national guard, taxes and even law enforcement is poised to move to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But even that august body is unlikely to resolve the contentions, since the authors of the original claim, which challenges the feds' authority to regulate guns made, sold and kept within a state, say they need the U.S. Supreme Court to act. "We've believed all along that the federal district court cannot grant the relief we request," said Gary Marbut, chief of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, which along with partner the Second Amendment Foundation brought the original lawsuit against the federal government. "We seek to overturn a half-century of bad precedent. Only the U.S. Supreme Court can do that. In that light the pending dismissal by the district court means little except that we are now free to move to the next step of the process," he said… Once the 9th Circuit rules, Marbut said, the plaintiffs intend to appeal any continuation of the dismissal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Or, he said, the 9th Circuit could return the case to the district court for trial… (The linked article includes a map of Firearms Freedom Acts across the US.)
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=210609
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The Sky Is Falling!: Happy-hour beers were going for $5 at Past Perfect, a cavernous bar just off this city's [Nashville] strip of honky-tonks and tourist shops when Adam Ringenberg walked in with a loaded 9-millimeter pistol in the front pocket of his gray slacks. Mr. Ringenberg, a technology consultant, is one of the state's nearly 300,000 handgun permit holders who have recently seen their rights greatly expanded by a new law – one of the nation's first – that allows them to carry loaded firearms into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. "If someone's sticking a gun in my face, I'm not relying on their charity to keep me alive," said Mr. Ringenberg, 30, who said he carries the gun for personal protection when he is not at work. Gun rights advocates like Mr. Ringenberg may applaud the new law, but many customers, waiters and restaurateurs here are dismayed by the decision… Tennessee is one of four states, along with Arizona, Georgia and Virginia, that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. (Eighteen other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol.) The new measures in Tennessee and the three other states come after two landmark Supreme Court rulings that citizens have an individual right – not just in connection with a well-regulated militia – to keep a loaded handgun for home defense… (According to the map at http://www.opencarry.org/restaurant.html, there are only seven states that do not allow firearms in restaurants that serve alcohol. I do not have the time to do a state-by-state search but there are several states that have not prohibited firearms in bars; some that come to mind are Indiana, Virginia, New Hampshire and New York. When we sought to distinguish bars from restaurants, under Arizona's Alcoholic Beverages Code, in order to make a strictly restaurant-carry bill, the move was opposed by the hospitality-industry lobby, in a failed gamble to block a "guns in bars" bill.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/us/04guns.html?_r=1&ref=us
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The Beat Goes On: …The number of women and suburban residents obtaining concealed handgun permits is on the rise in Texas. According to the Department of Public Safety, last year nearly 31,000 women got a license to carry. That is the most since the state started issuing permits 14 years ago. The majority of those licenses went to people in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. Overall, the state issued 139,000 handgun permits up from 86,000 in 2008… Not everyone thinks guns are the answer when it comes to protecting yourself… Another Austin resident said, "I don't believe that guns should be the first means of self protection; however, I'm respectful of each individual decision." That is an individual decision Robbins believes in. "I believe everybody should carry a gun or at least a right to carry a gun," Robbins said…
http://www.kvue.com/news/Concealed-handgun-permits-on-rise-in-Texas-104250008.html
After Barack Obama was elected president, many Texas gun owners feared they were on the verge of losing their Second Amendment rights — and they stocked up on weapons and ammunition. According to FBI statistics, the number of background checks for the purpose of firearms purchases in Texas increased 29 percent from 2007 to 2009. Texans also sought concealed handgun licenses: In 2009, nearly 139,000 permits were renewed or issued, the most in the history of the state's 15-year-old concealed-handgun law, according to statistics released by the Department of Public Safety… The number of CHL applications skyrocketed 61 percent between 2008 and 2009, from 86,000 to nearly 139,000. The number of licenses granted in 2009 equaled the total number issued in all of 2005 and 2006 combined. Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman, says the agency noticed the spike when employees processing the applications couldn't keep up. DPS was forced to hire temporary workers – and publicly urge applicants to submit paperwork online - to tackle the backlog. "All of a sudden there was this application tsunami that buried us," Mange says. Mange says DPS isn't sure why handgun license requests spiked in 2009 and declines to hazard a guess. Some gun instructors, like Hoot Gibson of San Antonio, are perfectly happy to, insisting that Obama's election was a strong reason for the skyrocketing number of concealed-carry licenses. "That was the major contributing factor," Gibson says…
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/concealed-handgun-law/did-worries-about-obama-spark-chl-applications/
…The number of concealed handgun permits issued last year by the Pueblo County [CO] skyrocketed. The Sheriff's Office issued 545 permits in 2009, or 43 percent more than the 380 it issued in 2008. The 2009 figure is the largest in a seven-year period, officials said.
"I have given out more concealed handgun permits than in the history of the county of Pueblo. That's six or seven permits a day," first-term Sheriff Kirk Taylor said last week. Taylor said he is amazed at the spike in permits but didn't call it concerning. The surge is because of the 2008 election of Democratic President Barack Obama and, according to gun advocates, his track record on gun issues and the threat they say he possess to the Second Amendment right to bear arms…
http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_537e77a4-cf75-11df-8e94-001cc4c03286.html
Even in Costa Rica: The demand for permits to carry firearms has been such that the Dirección de Armas y Explosivos, del Ministerio de Seguridad Pública is now forced to open on Saturdays. Yesterday, 72 people from five security companies were served between the hours of 7:30am and 4:00pm. A bulletin from the Ministerio de Seguridad explains that due to the high demand, Saturdays will be dedicated to serve employees of security firms who have scheduled appointments during the week. The office, located next to the former Aresep building in La Sabana, can handle an application in only 15 minutes, handing over the permit to applicants who have previously applied and have been cleared. This while legislators analyze the various proposals, including one that was presented by Presidenta Laura Chinchilla was she was a legislator, to the laws to regulate private security firms and the use of firearms. Included in the proposals is the regulation on the purchase and possession of firearms, as well as the registration and purchase of ammunition, limiting the number of weapons a person can have to 3 and only those persons with permits be allowed to buy ammunition…
http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/october/03/costarica10100304.htm
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Meanwhile, in Illinois…: Illinois' next governor could very well be called on to act on legislation dealing with two of the more controversial non-budget issues that have divided lawmakers in recent years – concealed carry and same-sex unions. Attempts to legalize both have been tried but have fallen short in the General Assembly. However, advocates believe the climate for both issues may be changing in Springfield. That means the next governor during his term could be faced with signing or vetoing legislation allowing people to carry concealed guns or granting same-sex couples legal protections. Illinois is one of only two states that does not allow its residents to carry concealed weapons. It isn't for lack of trying. Nearly every year in the General Assembly, legislation is introduced to bring concealed carry to Illinois, and every year the legislation falls short of approval. Lawmakers from the urbanized northeast part of the state offset the votes of downstaters more sympathetic to concealed carry. "The climate is changing," said Todd Vandermyde, an Illinois lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. "I think we are closer than we have ever been. We will probably have the most aggressive year you've ever seen." If Republican state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington is in the Executive Mansion when concealed carry passes, the bill likely will be signed into law…
http://www.sj-r.com/state/x1616323976/Civil-unions-concealed-carry-could-confront-next-governor
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Viewed from the Left: The history of civil rights in America is long and multi-faceted, from Rosa Parks keeping her seat on the bus to the Stonewall riots. And now to five guys packing heat while having ButterBurgers at Culver's. Welcome to civil rights 2010. Pro-gun activists are careful not to equate the open-carry movement with the epic struggles of blacks and gays to win basic civil rights, but they see plenty of parallels… The open-carry movement is gaining momentum across the country, and the Sept. 18 confrontation between Madison police and five armed men having dinner at an east-side Culver's has become a rallying point both in Wisconsin and nationwide… Despite the surge of support, the assertion that gun rights and gay rights go hand-in-hand doesn't sit well with everyone. "I don't think it's a very positive connection," says Steve Starkey, executive director of OutReach, Madison's LGBT Community Center. "We have enough challenges trying to win our rights and to talk about the ways we're discriminated against without affiliating with a group that's talking about gun rights." …A few days ago, the city of San Diego ended an open carry case with a $35,000 settlement. That case was settled only weeks after a proposal to outlaw carrying firearms in public died in the California legislature. Other city governments, including Norfolk, Va., and Gonzales, La., have paid out cash to settle federal lawsuits in favor of gun carriers in recent years… (For those who don't recognize it, the Stonewall riots were a response to a police raid on a gay bar in NYC. For such a well researched and even-handed article, I'm surprised to see no mention of Pink Pistols, a gay-oriented RKBA organization.)
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_9fa0c010-cf48-11df-ad8f-001cc4c03286.html
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Las Vegas – in the Wake of the Inquest: At the moment he was shot by three Las Vegas police officers in front of a Costco store on a July afternoon, Erik Scott had potentially fatal levels of the painkiller morphine and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system. Prosecutors during last week's inquest used that information, along with the testimony of Scott's doctors, to paint a picture of the West Point graduate as a prescription drug addict who battled chronic pain. But when the three officers took the stand to testify at the inquest, they said they were never drug- or alcohol-tested after the shooting. Nor was there a blood test for Detective Bryan Yant, the narcotics officer who fired into a darkened bathroom while serving a search warrant on 21-year-old Trevon Cole in June. Cole's blood test results – positive for marijuana use – came up in the inquest into his death. Why the difference in treatment? The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, like most departments nationwide, does not test its officers after critical incidents unless there is a "reasonable suspicion" the officer is under the influence…
http://www.lvrj.com/news/sheriff--police-drug-test-policy--under-review--in-wake-of-scott-case-104231799.html
Costco Wholesale Corporation on Wednesday released a statement addressing the officer-involved shooting of Erik Scott outside its Summerlin store in July. The statement calls Scott's death tragic and touches on the recent criticism from Scott's father that the store "killed Erik." …Company leaders insist employees acted responsibly when they called police and ordered an evacuation of the store after seeing Scott was armed and acting erratically while shopping in the sporting goods aisle. An employee testified that Scott became belligerent after being told of the policy banning guns in the store. The company said it has learned of an upcoming protest at the store, in which managers will be urged to fire employees involved in the incident. "Such actions can only be intended to inflame public sentiment in connection with planned litigation, and have no reasonable relationship to the cause of Mr. Scott's untimely death," the statement reads… (Costco has a long historical link opposition to the RKBA. After merging with Price Club, it was previously known as PriceCostco. Solomon Price, founder of Price Club, was a major contributor to California's 1982 Propostion 15, which would have banned further sales of handguns to private citizens in that state. To my knowledge, Costco still donates to prohibitionist groups, such as the Brady Bunch.)
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25216283/detail.html
Costco's Statement:
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25216062/detail.html
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ISRA Calls for Boycott of AON: The ISRA is calling upon all lawful American firearm owners to stop doing business with AON Corporation and its subsidiaries. This call for a boycott comes after published reports disclosed that AON is bankrolling a fundraiser for the political arm of the nation's most radical gun control organization. Not only is the fundraiser being financed by AON, it is also being held in a posh club atop AON's Chicago headquarters. The October 4th event, which AON will hold on behalf of the "Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence," will raise money to fund the Brady Campaign's efforts to impose severe restrictions on citizens' 2nd Amendment rights. Such restrictions include bans on civilian ownership of handguns, target rifles, and popular hunting firearms. The Brady organization also seeks to shutter small firearm retailers and prohibit law-abiding citizens from using firearms to protect their homes and their families…
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/isra-calls-for-nationwide-boycott-of-aon-insurance-products-104251428.html
http://www.aon.com/default.jsp
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Rule One, Two, Three Reminder: A Southwest Florida man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the face while trying to fight off a skunk. Daniel McDaniels, 31, was at a friend's house Friday when he spotted the skunk. He grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and began loading it with the butt of the rifle on the ground. Manatee County Sheriff's deputies said McDaniels didn't know the gun already had a round in it when he accidentally tripped the trigger, setting off the gun. The bullet pierced the fingers of his right hand and entered his left cheek. His injuries are not life-threatening. (It sounds as though he was loading a tubular magazine, as is usually found mounted below the barrel on most lever-action rifles and a few .22 autoloaders. I'm not familiar with the situation in Florida but rabid skunks are not unusual in most of Arizona – beware of any non-domesticated animal that approaches you, particularly skunks and raccoons. The Rules are posted at http://www.spw-duf.info/safety.html.)
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blotter/florida-man-trying-to-shoo-skunk-accidentally-shoots-951349.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
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From South Africa: Cecelia Steynberg was awoken by the constant barking of her dogs at about 3.15am on Wednesday, spokesperson Sergeant Puleng Motsoeneng said. When she went to investigate she saw a man entering her room with a firearm. She fired a warning shot, but the man continued bearing down on her. She fired another shot, hitting him in the neck. The man is in hospital. (I don't know how the courts view warning shots in South Africa but I would not risk one when an intruder is clearly armed with his own firearm. Among other issues, if a gunfight is on, I may end up needing he extra round.)
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010/10/01/farmer_s-wife-shoots-would-be-robber
Speaking of Warning Shots…: A Sunday morning dispute over dogs turned into a shootout, Bay County [FL] Sheriff's deputies said. No one was injured in the incident, but Garry Alexander, 64, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit. Alexander was "highly intoxicated" when he stepped onto his neighbor's property on Marvin Lane in Southport and began yelling at her about her dogs, deputies wrote, adding that he had a .357 Magnum Taurus revolver in his hand… His neighbor, Janet Keesecker, 49, who works as a manager at a local gas station and was outside when Alexander arrived, grabbed her .38 special from her vehicle and tried to go back into her house, she said. But before she could get back into the house, Alexander fired, Keesecker said during a Sunday afternoon interview. "When he shot the first one, it just missed me," she added. "I didn't even know he was that close with his weapon." Keesecker entered her house and fired once back at Alexander, she said. "I wasn't aiming for anything. I thought if I just shot it he would leave," she added. Instead of retreating, Alexander fired two more shots at Keesecker's house, authorities said. This time, Keesecker stayed inside the home and waited to see what Alexander would do next… (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.newsherald.com/news/fire-87452-returns-shoots.html
