Volume 9, No. 1 www.foac-pac.org January 09, 2009
Firearms Owners Against Crime
"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be tomorrow." --James Madison (likely), Federalist No. 62, 1788
E-Newsletter & FOAC Meeting Notice
January 11, 2009
Meeting Agenda Issues:
9.0 NEW BUSINESS
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.1 <!--[endif]-->New Officers – Treasurer & Secretary
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.2 <!--[endif]-->Upcoming Election Races (2009)
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.3 <!--[endif]-->Late Breaking Issues Report on Gun Control
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.4 <!--[endif]-->Constitutional Convention (State & Federal)
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.5 <!--[endif]-->City of Pittsburgh City Council & Cease Fire PA Gun Control Effort
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.6 <!--[endif]-->West Mifflin Borough Council & Metal Detectors
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.7 <!--[endif]-->Media Efforts
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.8 <!--[endif]-->Membership committee developments
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.9 <!--[endif]-->Gun Owners Rally-2009-Preliminary Report
Federal issues:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.10 <!--[endif]-->Obama nominations (i.e. Eric Holder for AG)
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.11 <!--[endif]-->Obama qualifications for office
Events:
**PA Gun Collectors Gun Show: January 17th & 18th – 2009 - (Westmoreland Mall Annex)
**Washington County Gun Show-ARH Sport Shop: January 24th & 25th – 2009 – (Washington County Fairgrounds)
**Political Moral Crisis Presentation by Peg Luksik on January 31st at the Lamplighter Restaurant in Delmont—Cost $5.00 (Coffee, Tea and Danish provided) Details call – (724) 837-2045
FOAC - 2009 Meeting Schedule
Jan 11, 2nd Sunday, Feb 08, 2nd Sunday, Mar 08, 2nd Sunday, Apr 19, 3rd Sunday, May 17, 3rd Sunday, Jun 14, 2nd Sunday, Jul 12, 2nd Sunday, Aug 09, 2nd Sunday, Sep 13, 2nd Sunday, Oct 11, 2nd Sunday, Nov 08, 2nd Sunday, Dec 13, 2nd Sunday
**Time of Meeting: 10:00 AM
**Location: Whitehall Borough Bldg (off Rt.51 – ask for directions)
****Coffee and Donuts will be provided
***2009 Election Dates: Primary Election – May 19 - General Election – Nov. 3
Pittsburgh Mayor Passes on ‘Illegal’ Gun Ordinance-Legal Action Pending
The city of Pittsburgh is now in violation of the Pennsylvania crimes code, the home rule charter, the Ortiz Supreme Court decision and a 13-year-old Allegheny County Court order. The passage of the legislation "mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms" and the failure of Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstall to take a principled stand against these violations of the law and court orders clears the way for legal action to, once again, put the genie back in the bottle and force government to comply with the law.
Wow, what a novel idea!
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a prosecutor or judge who was willing to stand on principle and see these Councilmembers arrested for the crimes they have ‘admitted publicly’ to having committed?!
After the above transpired Kim Stolfer was challenged by the only opposition to this legislation, Councilman Rick Burgess, to do a live debate on the radio show hosted by Kevin Miller on KDKA radio. Kim Stolfer responded swiftly with a three-page response to the innuendo and misstatements of the Councilman as well as accepting the challenge to debate him anywhere anytime. As the date for the debate approached it became apparent that KDKA radio was going to make some changes to their broadcast schedule and that Kevin Miller was going to be replaced and as a result of this the Councilman chose this as an opportunity to cancel the debate. A curious man would wonder why this particular radio talk show host was so important to the Councilman that no substitutions were possible.
The end result is that we are in the planning stages of putting together a legal challenge to the lunacy that seems to run unchecked within City Hall.
More to come as circumstances develop.
West Mifflin Borough Installing Metal Detectors and They Say NO to CCW
The borough of West Mifflin has been contacted by the legislative committee, as well as a number of other groups and individuals interested in this issue, to ascertain exactly what they plan to do with the installation of metal detectors and to inform them that denying individuals the ability to enter Council chambers is a violation of law, the home rule charter, the Ortiz decision, and court precedent in Allegheny County pursuant to the court order issued against the city of Pittsburgh.
While this contact has resulted in a number of articles written about this particular issue, the response from West Mifflin borough has been complete silence. No attempt to communicate in any fashion has been forthcoming therefore a small group of gun owners is planning to attend the borough council meeting on January 20. Early indications are that they are going to try to muzzle gun owners and individuals who would like to speak at this meeting from talking due to the apparent publication of articles where in legal challenges to their authority were mentioned.
This is an ongoing and developing problem that we will be following and dealing with at each turn. More to come on this as well!
Constitutional conventions being planned across America
Certain powerbrokers and entities within the United States government as well as in state governments throughout the nation are attempting to renew calls for federal and/or state constitutional conventions.
The push for these comes in a troubling time for our nation as the mechanisms contained within the varied constitutions empower delegates to these conventions to make sweeping changes in the form and structure of government. While the founding fathers did provide this mechanism it, like the use of a firearm in a deadly force situation, is only meant to be used in the gravest of circumstances when no other options exist. That, sadly, is not the case and we do not question the powers enumerated in the Constitution but we do question the intent of those making these calls and the basis of which they are being made.
On the federal level there are arguably 32 states that have a standing call for a constitutional convention. The threshold for holding one under this section, article V, of the United States Constitution is 34 states.
Here in Pennsylvania the past legislative session had a Bill debated, Senate Bill 1290, which would have provided for the creation of a constitutional convention here at the state level. This legislation has been shown to be extremely flawed and would have presented more problems than the drafters apparently considered. We can be sure that we will see something along these lines reintroduced in the upcoming legislative session.
While no one can say that change is not needed it is apparent that politicians who favor this approach have a different agenda because they already retain the power necessary to make the changes that they publicly have decried as their reasoning for holding a constitutional convention. So why are they doing this? No one really knows all the reasons but we will track it nonetheless.
Chicago wins first round on handgun ban
by Joseph P. Tartaro, Executive Editor
A federal judge on Dec. 18 upheld Chicago's 1982 handgun ban as Mayor Daley disclosed plans to strengthen it by following Washington, DC's lead, (See related story in this issue).
None of the individual plaintiffs or the organizations sponsoring the suits was surprised by, the lower court decision. They expected the issue to be resolved at the highest court levels.
In a 5-to-4 decision on June 26th, the Supreme Court had overturned the DC handgun ban on grounds that the Second Amendment establishes the right to own a handgun and other operable firearms in a home or business for personal self-defense.
Minutes later, the Second Amendment Foundation and Illinois State Rifle Association filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the handgun bans in Chicago. The next day, the National Rifle Associated filed suit against Chicago and suburban Morton Grove, Evanston and Oak. Park. Wilmette, Morton Grove and Evanston subsequently repealed their handgun bans, rather than finance along and, expensive litigation process. Chicago held fast.
Now, according to The Chicago Sun limes, US District Judge Milton Shadur rewarded the city for hanging tough, rejecting the pair of lawsuits—which had been combined.
The Daley administration was pleased, but "not surprised" by the decision, according to The Sun Times.
City attorneys are well aware that the fight goes on.
"We believe this decision will ultimately end up in the hands of the US Supreme Court," said Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle.
"This is a victory for us, but, it's just one step in what is probably going to be a long battle."
Todd Vandermyde, the Illinois legislative liaison for the NRA who was quoted by The Sun Times, called Shadur's ruling a temporary victory for the city.
"It was expected. We went to court knowing it's going to take a higher court's ruling As Judge Shadur enumerated in his decision, he's still bound by the precedent set by the 7th Circuit (Court of Appeal). He wasn't going to stick his neck out on an issue that the' 7th Circuit hasn't changed its mind on," he said.
"City taxpayers are going to pay more money in legal fees for a fight they will ultimately lose. The city is only postponing the inevitable. They won this round. But if this thing goes to the Supreme Court, we will prevail. The court laid out a very compelling case with a lot of foundation for an individual's right to bear arms," said Vandermyde.
In his ruling, Shadur appeared to caution the city that its victory might be short-lived.
"This court should not be misunderstood as either rejecting or endorsing the logic of plaintiff's argument.
It may well carry, the day before a court that is unconstrained by the obligation to follow the unreversed precedent of a court that occupies a higher position in the judicial firmament," the decision stated.
At a news conference on school violence that preceded Shadur's ruling, Daley hinted strongly that he intends to follow Washington's lead.
The mayor said he plans to hold a gun conference early in 2009 to consider current trends in gun violence and how they might be addressed within the legal parameters established by the nation's highest court.
"I believe the court's ruling presents us with an opportunity to continue our efforts to enact reasonable, common sense gun laws that put conditions on gun ownership and sales and that also puts limitations on where guns are permitted, all of which the court's ruling allows," the mayor said.
Asked point-blank whether he intends to use the city's sweeping home-rule powers to mimic the DC changes, Daley said, "That's what we're looking at. You're not gonna rush into something so quickly. That's why you have a conference and listen to people." The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
Interior okays CCW in national parks
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
Barring a court challenge to block its taking effect, a new rule by the Department of Interior that allows the carrying of concealed handguns by licensees inside national parks will take effect in about two weeks.
Anti-gunners are furious and had threatened legal action prior to the holidays.
Bill Wade, president of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, was quoted by The Salt Lake Tribune stating, "This regulation will put visitors, employees and precious resources of the National Park System at risk. We will do everything possible to overturn it and return to a common-sense approach to guns in national parks that has been working for decades." -
Under the rule change, announced by Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Lyle Laverty, citizens who possess valid concealed carry licenses or permits that are recognized by the state in which the park is located are essentially "good to go."
For example, if a national park is located in Washington State, residents of states whose licenses are honored by Washington statute should be able to carry while visiting Mount Rainier or Olympic National Park.
And, according to Interior Department spokesman Chris Paolino, if a state has a regulation such as Washington's, which allows unlicensed concealed carry for persons engaged in legitimate outdoor activities including hiking, camping, fishing or horseback riding, it should apply within the national parks there.
What this regulation will not allow is hunting, target shooting or casual plinking on national park lands. Open carry will not be allowed, nor may armed citizens enter park buildings with their concealed handguns. That applies to visitor centers, ranger stations and even restrooms.
The same rule will apply to national wildlife refuges, with the exception that hunting is already legal on refuges, and that will not change. Opponents of the rule change had campaigned against it by asserting that parks would become venues for careless shooting activities.
Opponents of the original proposal were quick to react. Scot McElveen, president of the Association of National Park Rangers, was quoted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggesting that this change will be bad for wildlife in the parks.
The rule was also opposed by the National Parks Conservation Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, After the rule change was announced, Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke went on the attack, calling the change a "parting gift for the gun lobby" from the Bush Administration.
"We urge the proper authorities to use common sense," Helmke said in a press release, "and stop this senseless rule."
However, gun rights organizations- were supportive of the rule change.
"No longer will American citizens be required to leave their right of self-defense at the gates of a national park," said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. "This common-sense change in regulations reflects not only changes in the laws of 48 states, but more importantly the Supreme Court's ruling in June that upheld the individual right to keep and bear arms that is protected by the Second Amendment."
Chris Cox, head of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, issued a statement noting, "We are pleased that the. Interior Department recognizes the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families while enjoying America's national parks and wildlife refuges."
Philip Van Cleave with the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a grassroots group that had also been actively pushing for the change, called the decision "a big win for gunowners."
"This victory has been years in the making," Van Cleave told Gun Week, "and VCDL is proud to have played an important role in expanding our freedoms."
An assistant US attorney in Seattle, WA, told Gun Week that in the event of a self-defense shooting in a national park, the FBI would investigate. Self-defense guidelines are essentially the same on federal land as they are on state land. That is, the validity of a self-defense claim is determined under what is generically called the "reasonable man doctrine." That is, what would any reasonable person do under the same circumstances, knowing what the shooter knew at the time?
As part of the instructions to a jury under a model from the 9th US Court of Appeals, when determining whether someone acted in self-defense, a jury would be told the following: "Use of force is justified when a person reasonably believes that it is necessary for the defense of oneself or another against the immediate use of unlawful force. How- ever, a person must use no more force than appears reasonably necessary under the circumstances.
"Force likely to cause death or great bodily harm is justified in self-defense only if a person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm.
"The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in reasonable self-defense." The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
‘Killing fields?' -- Shopping mall ‘no gun’ rules rile armed citizens
by Dave Workman ,Senior Editor
Eight people killed in a murder-suicide attack at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, NE, on Dec. 5, 2007; another five shoppers gunned down at Salt Lake City's Trolley Square on Feb. 12, 2007; two people killed and two more wounded at Kansas City's Ward Parkway Center on April 29, 2007.
Don't forget the Tacoma Mall shooting of Nov. 20, 2005 in Tacoma, WA, in which six people were wounded and four others taken hostage before the gunman surrendered.
Then came the fatal shooting at the Westfield Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, WA, a Seattle suburb on Nov. 22 in which a 16-year-old was gunned down in a gang-related shooting, and another youth was wounded.
In the wake of such incidents, though they are statistically rare, there invariably erupts a spirited, often heated debate between pro- and anti-gun factions, the former pointing to a common problem with each of these events, and the latter calling for tighter restrictions on gunowners. What is that common problem at each mall shooting?
According to gun rights activists, the problem with all of these locations is that they are invariably "gun free zones." All of these malls are either clearly posted as being off-limits to firearms and other weapons, or a "no weapons" rule is found in the mall's policy, the firearms community complains.
Shopping malls are private property, and the no-guns policies have traditionally been encouraged and supported by gun control organizations, whether it be the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence or one of the state-level "Cease Fire" groups. It is not unusual for concealed carry statutes passed over the past 15 years to include exemptions for private businesses that post their establishments off limits to legally carried handguns.
Self Defense?
In the Westfield Southcenter incident, a suspect identified as 21-year-old Barry Saunders allegedly drew a pistol following a verbal confrontation and fatally wounded Daiquan L. Jones, a youth with a lengthy record who had been released from a juvenile reformatory just one week before he died. The other victim, Jermaine D. McGowan, also 16, was seriously wounded and was taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. One report suggested that Saunders will plead self-defense.
Saunders' attorney is claiming self- defense in the case. The attorney, David Gehrke, told The Seattle Post Intelligencer that he did not know whether Saunders was even carrying the gun, and he would not concede that his client actually fired the shots.
Law enforcement sources told Gun Week that Saunders had a very minor record, and that there is no record of him having a concealed pistol license, even though at age 21, he would have been legally able to apply for one, provided he had a clean background.
Young people like Saunders and his apparent victims are a fixture at shopping malls all over the country. While the victims at the Westfield Southcenter mall were essentially part of a problem they allegedly helped create, the majority of mass shooting victims have no connections with their killers, except that they happened to be in the same place at the same moment.
That is the reality that ignited a conversation among gun rights activists recently who were asked by Gun Week to explain their feelings about "gun free" shopping malls. Combined with apprehension about the kind of terrorist attack that occurred in Mumbai, India, over the last weekend of November, and gunowners uniformly have decided they are not going to be victims, of terrorists, gangster thugs or deranged killers.
Responses
When we threw the question to several gun rights chat groups, the reaction was swift and massive. Gun Week received responses from all over the country.
As one might expect, our survey elicited a majority of reactions from residents of the Pacific Northwest, where the Southcenter mall shooting was fresh on everyone's mind.
Ivy Nelson-Groves of Renton, WA, told Gun Week, "Once or twice a year I go to the Southcenter Mall (where a recent shooting occurred). I usually go to my optometrist (who also shoots) and he knows I'm packing. He has no problem with this (even prescribed me a special pair of shooting glasses to help with my cross dominance issues)."
Nelson-Groves has seen the "No Firearms" signs at the mall in the past, but not recently. She added this observation, "I turn 51 in a nine days, and don't feel like running away from anyone anymore. But I will not let myself be a victim if I can possibly help it. I'll continue to carry concealed at the malls until they install metal detectors. Then I'll go somewhere else, because I am under no illusion that those metal detectors will prevent the bad guys from getting in with firearms."
Down in Raymore, MO, gun activist Mike Watson noted, "A weapons prohibited area is an invitation to those who would do violence on those unable to defend themselves and companions."
He accused the press and politicians of putting the blame on victims.
Seattleite Ray Carter turned that around, pointing the blame squarely at mall management.
"In a misguided attempt to avoid litigation," Carter stated, "an increasing number of public spaces (such as malls) have chosen to promote defenselessness among their customers—with predictably tragic and bloody results. Consciously or unconsciously, the unfortunate self-interest of Mall Management has served to place their customers in greater danger than before."
"This is one of the reasons why I try to avoid shopping in malls," added Mike Lubrecht of Carnation, WA. "But if I must go, I feel an obligation to be able to protect myself and my spouse. Unless there is a legal, legitimate reason for me not to carry, I always carry concealed, and I make it a point to stay near my unarmed wife. If this means I must bend a rule, so be it. The gang members and psychotics who enter those malls with intent to commit mayhem are more my concern than being informed that I'm no longer welcome to buy at some over- priced boutique store."
Free Fire Zones
Jim Ferguson of Dickson, TN, bluntly stated, "Gun free zones make 'free fire zones' for bad guys. Put some law abiding CCW people in those malls (that) will put an end to the (free-fire zones)."
Another Renton resident, Richard Seim, said the only reason he has a concealed pistol license in Washington is for self-defense.
"If shopping malls choose to post a 'Weapons Prohibited' sign," Seim explained, "I simply will stay out and not spend my money there. Why would I go someplace to have my right of self defense taken away when I have spent the time and money being trained to be able to carry safely and defend myself and/or others as necessary?"
Texan Genie Williams, who resides in Princeton but shops in the Dallas area, made the conscious choice to go armed, or not go at all.
"I pack when I shop at any mall," she revealed. "If a shopping mall wants to deny my gun then they deny my money; I can go elsewhere or shop on the net."
Edmonds, WA, resident Dennis Purvine has been to the Southcenter mall where the November shooting occurred, and he has decided that his safety is more important than a mall rule against firearms.
"A few years ago (I believe) as I entered Southcenter Mall," he recalled, "I noticed the no weapons allowed sign. I ignored it, entered the mall and went about my business. Every time that I have been in the Southcenter Mall I have been armed. The potential down- side (being asked to leave the mall) is outweighed by the potential upside (saving my life)."
No Effect
Birmingham, AL's Mike Little was matter-of-fact about "No Guns Allowed" signs at shopping malls, noting that "such signs have little to no effect on the criminal class."
"In Alabama," he explained, "such a sign carries no weight of law, they can ask me to leave if they find my gun but otherwise I carry. If they know about my gun I've either screwed up or needed it for its purpose. If I've screwed up they can ask me to leave and I will, I don't really care for the yuppie hell of shop- ping malls anyway. If I've needed my weapon for its designed purpose and if I live they can ask me to leave and I won't care because I'll be the breathing one."
Al Barth of Manteca, CA, told Gun Week that he does not patronize an establishment that posts such signs. If he has to enter a federal building, including the VA hospital, he leaves his pistol locked in his vehicle.
"As to the malls," he quipped, "I do not go to those places. Too easy to get hurt there by people who do not believe in signs."
Perhaps Charles Featherman of Dushore, PA, summed it up best: "Perhaps the predators involved in those mall murders see the 'Weapons Prohibited' signs, and recognize these 'gun free zones' for exactly what they are: A target rich environment that has, by the posting of that very sign, made it much safer for the murderer to commit his crime. They perform their evil, knowing they can murder as many as they want; because they have nothing to fear from those that 'follow the rules.'" The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
British commentator puts recent Mumbai massacre in perspective
On Dec. 7, The London Times published a firearms civil rights op-ed column by Richard Munday who has written many other social commentaries in recent years as well as being the co- author and editor of Guns & Violence: The Debate Before Lord Culle.
The publication of this particular column by The Times in modern-day England is remarkable in itself and since it was first published in has been posted on several Internet sites as well as that of The Times.
However, remarkable as it was to read the column which was actually published by The Times and its website, it is even more significant to read all of what Munday submitted to that newspaper. Two good friends of the self-defense community, scholar-attorney Don Kates Jr. and ex-newsman-TV producer Dan Gifford were kind enough to email a copy of what Munday originally submitted to The Times.
His original title was "It Could Happen Here" and we take the liberty of sharing it with out readers. See the Hindsight column in this issue for some addition information about the Mumbai Massacre.
What follows with minimal editing, primarily for US spellings and punctuation, is Richard Munday's commentary as submitted to The London Times.
"The firearms massacres that have periodically caused shock and horror around the world have all been utterly dwarfed by the Bombay (now Mumbai) shootings, in which a handful of gunmen left some five hundred people killed or wounded. Commentators have been swift to insist that we must all 'stand firm' against such outrage; but behind the rhetoric, the pundits have been visibly uncertain how an assault like that in India can be prevented or resisted. The Bombay massacre exposed the myth of a number of our security assumptions.
"For anybody who still believed in it, the Bombay shootings exposed the myth of 'gun control.' India had some of the strictest firearms laws in the world, going back to the Indian Arms Act of 1878, by which Britain had sought to prevent a recurrence of the Indian Mutiny. The guns used in last week's Bombay massacre were all 'prohibited weapons' under Indian law; just as they are in Britain. In this country we have seen the irrelevance of such bans (handgun crime, for instance, doubled here within five years of the prohibition of legal pistol ownership), but the largely drug-related nature of most extreme violence here has left most of us with at best a sheltered awareness of the threat. So far, one has had to be unlucky to be caught like the girls casually machine- gunned outside a Birmingham night club; we have not yet faced a determined and broad-based attack.
"The Bombay massacre also exposed the myth that arming the police force guarantees security. Sebastian D'Souza, a picture editor on the Mumbai Mirror who took some of the dramatic pictures of the assault on the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, was angered to find India's armed police taking cover and apparently failing to engage the gun- men. In Britain, we might recall the prolonged failure of armed police to contain the Hungerford killer, whose rampage lasted over four hours, and who in the end shot himself. In Dunblane too, it was the killer who ended his own career: even at best, police response is almost always belated when gunmen are on the loose. One might think, too, of the McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California, in 1984, where the SWAT team waited for their leader (who was held up in a traffic jam) while 21 unarmed diners were executed.
"Rhetoric about standing firm against terrorists aside, in Britain we have no more legal deterrent to prevent an armed assault than did the people of Bombay, and individually we would be just as helpless as victims. The Bombay massacre could happen in London tomorrow; but probably it could not have happened to the Londoners of a hundred years ago.
"A century ago the challenge of radical Islam to the British Empire was beyond these shores, but we also faced threats at home from Fenian terrorists and assorted 'anarchists.' Almost exactly one hundred years ago, in January 1909, two such anarchists, lately come from an attempt to blow up the president of France, tried to commit a robbery in north London, armed with automatic pistols. Edwardian Londoners, however, shot back: and the anarchists were pursued through the streets by a spontaneous hue-and-cry. The police (who could not find the key to their own gun cupboard) borrowed at least four pistols from passers-by, whilst other citizens armed with revolvers and shotguns preferred to use their weapons themselves to bring the assailants down.
"Today we are probably more shocked at the idea of so many ordinary Londoners carrying guns in the street, than we are at the idea of an armed robbery (we now see more armed robberies every week than our armed Edwardians forebears suffered in a year). But the world of Conan Doyle's Dr. Watson, pocketing his revolver before he walked the London streets, was real. This was before Britain's first Firearms Act, and the ownership and carrying of guns was commonplace. We should recall that Britain then was neither politically nor socially more stable than it is today: aside from Irish terrorists and domestic firebombers, it was beset by violent industrial unrest that caused the army to be deployed and strikers killed by the cavalry. Social upheaval did indeed cause panic buying of guns: in Birming- ham, one worried man told Austen Chamberlain that he had gone out to buy himself five revolvers, but the gunshop said that whilst they had a hundred in the previous day and fifty left that morning, they were now all sold. Yet for all this, the arming of the populace guaranteed rather than disturbed the peace.
"That armed England existed within living memory; but it is now so alien to our expectations that it has become a foreign country. Our image of an armed society is conditioned instead by America: or by what' we imagine we know about America. It is a skewed image, because (the vaunted Second Amendment notwithstanding) until recently in much of the US it has been illegal to bear arms outside the home or workplace; and therefore only people willing to defy the law, or social predators, have carried weapons. In the past two decades the enactment of 'right to carry' legislation in the majority of states, and the issue of permits for the carrying of concealed firearms to citizens of good repute, has brought a radical change. Opponents of the right to bear arms predicted that 'right to carry' would cause blood to flow in the streets, but the reverse has been true: violent crime in America has plummeted. There are still, of course, exceptions: America's 'murder capital,' Washington DC, maintained its gun ban policy until the Supreme Court ruled against it this year. Likewise Virginia Tech, site of the 2007 massacre of thirty students, was another local 'gun free zone' which forbade the bearing of arms even to those with a license to carry. That circumstance was rather overlooked in reportage of the tragedy; just as the news media overlooked the contrasting experience of the Appalachian Law School in 2002, where after killing three people a gunman was halted by armed students: a 'massacre' cut short.
"In Britain we are not yet ready to recall the final liberty of the subject listed by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England as underpinning all the others: 'the right of having and using arms for self- preservation and defense.' We would still not be ready to do so, were the Bombay massacre to happen in London tomorrow. Or indeed the next time it happened, for we have become so trusting in the shield of the state, and mistrustful of ourselves.
"We might, however, allow ourselves to wonder what would have happened at the Taj Mahal hotel last week, had its clientele been like that of the quiet country hotel once visited by Beatrix
Potter in Victorian Yorkshire. In conversation, she discovered that only one of the eight or nine guests was not carrying a revolver.
“‘Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India,' Mahatma Gandhi once reflected, 'history will look upon the Act denying a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.' The Bombay massacre is a bitter postscript to Gandhi's comment. Sebastian D'Souza, the newspaper photographer who witnessed the slaughter at the railway station, now laments his own helplessness in the face of the killers: 'I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera.' There may be many among the hundreds of defenseless victims killed or wounded in Bombay who could fervently have wished likewise."
Gun Week would add that an overwhelming majority of those readers who could comment on Munday's article on The Times website shared and supported Munday's views. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
‘Curse of the Gunnies' hits anti-gun Illinois governor
When attorney-scholar-video producer David T. Hardy first postulated his "Curse of the Gunnies" thesis almost 30 years ago, Rod Blagojevich wasn't even in Congress yet. However, as in the case of so many other politicians, if the curse doesn't strike early in a career, its affects seem to follow an anti-gunner's career.
In the case of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, they were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges the morning of Dec. 9, but despite many calls for him to step down Blagojevich failed to do so on Dec. 15, the day this issue of Gun Week went to press.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., citing FBI spokesman Frank Bochte. Both were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago, and the story quickly became national news.
Among those calling for Blagojevich's resignation is President-elect Barack Obama. Others include the state's attorney general and lieutenant governor, both of whom have said they will seek his impeachment if he fails to resign.
Blagojevich pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment, but the odor of corruption rising anew in the Illinois governor's office is beginning to cast a pall over the upcoming Democratic inaugural victory celebration. The main public concern involves the charge that Blagojevich and some of his staff engaged in a "pay-to-play" scheme involving the governor's upcoming appointment of someone to fill the US Senate seat that Obama will be vacating.
In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace President- elect Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himself as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.
Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by the financially beleaguered Tribune Co.
Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain fmancial benefits for the governor, members of his family and his campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state jobs and state contracts, according to the charges.
"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.
"They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in "pay-to-play" schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."
A three-year federal corruption investigation of pay-to-play politics in Blagojevich's administration has expanded to include his impending selection of a new US senator to succeed President-elect Barack Obama, the Tribune learned.
Federal authorities got approval from a judge before the November general election to secretly record the governor, sources told The Tribune, and among their concerns was whether the selection process might be tainted. That possibility has become a focus in an intensifying investigation that has included recordings of the governor and the cooperation of one of his closest friends.
As the story unfolded in the days immediately following reports of the charges, pressure grew on two of Obama's closest political aides as new details emerged of the pay-for-play allegations against the Blagojevich.
Rahm Emanuel, Obama's new chief of staff, and US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr, the co-chairman of his presidential campaign, both faced new revelations about their possible involvement in the scandal.
Fox News Chicago reported that Emanuel may have been captured on FBI wire-taps discussing the fate of Obama's vacated seat with Blagojevich.
Any recordings of the newly appointed White House chief of staff speaking to Blagojevich about Obama's former Senate seat would prove an acute embarrassment to the incoming administration, even if no illegal deals were discussed, and could even force Emanuel's resignation. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Federal appeals court mulling OK ‘guns at work' law
A federal appeals court in Denver is expected to rule early in 2009 on the legality of an Oklahoma statute, passed almost two years ago with support of Gov. Brad Henry and state Attorney General Drew Edmondson, which allows workers to have guns in their cars while at their places of employment.
The law was struck down in 2007 by US District Judge Terence Kern in Tulsa, and the state appealed to the federal Court of Appeals in Denver, where oral arguments in the case were made in November.
According to The Tulsa World, the Oklahoma statute was strongly opposed by ConocoPhillips and other companies. An attorney representing those employers, Steven Broussard of Tulsa, contended that opposition to the law was in the interest of protecting employees. He had asserted earlier in written arguments that the law amounted to "an unconstitutional taking of (employers') property," the newspaper reported.
The governor and attorney general were represented by Washington, DC, attorney Charles Cooper, who had been appointed as a special assistant attorney general for this case, the newspaper said. His law firm had filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the National Rifle Association.
The law under scrutiny was passed by the Oklahoma legislature after the Weyerhaeuser Company had fired eight workers from a lumber mill for having firearms in their cars, parked on company property, in violation of company policy. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
CT barber says armed neighbors saved his life
Good neighbors are the best kind, especially when they are packing pistols and come to your rescue, as New Haven, CT, barber Dexter Jones found out the hard way Dec. 1, but at least he's alive to talk about it.
According to The New Haven Register, Jones was cleaning up his Dixwell Avenue barbershop and had just closed up when he was robbed at gunpoint at about 11 p.m. It was the first time in his dozen years at the shop that he had seen any trouble.
Fortunately for the 44-year-old barber, his neighbors, Desmond and Garfield Mills, also saw what was happening. The proprietors of Wing Madness, the business next door to the barber shop, drew their handguns and came to the rescue.
What happened next was certainly a surprise to the youthful robbers. They suddenly found themselves in a gunfight with the two businessmen, and one of the yeggs was shot in the leg.
A spokeswoman for the city identified as Jessica Mayorga said both Desmond and Garfield are legal gunowners.
Police later arrested two adults and a teenager who was carrying a pistol illegally, the newspaper reported.
Jones said if it had not been for his armed neighbors, he probably would have been murdered. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
Debate over guns for rich sports celebrities surfaces again in NYC
by Joseph P. Tartaro, Executive Editor
Professional sports figures that rise to the top of their game and choose to own and/or carry guns are usually among the most visible targets of those who don't think anyone should have a right to keep and bear arms.
Of course, there is also the question of prosecution for those athletes who carry in violation of local, state or federal laws.
Over the years, professional football players, basketball players and others who have defended themselves with a firearm or injured themselves by carelessness have frequently put the gun debate on the front page, and even the sports pages where news is usually linked to who does what with a ball before a paid audience.
The latest brouhaha about a professional athlete and gun erupted on the last weekend in November when New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg on a crowded night at a popular city nightclub.
Burress, who does not have a New York state license for his handgun, was arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD) in early December on charges of illegal possession. Not surprisingly, gun-hating NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants Burress prosecuted to the limit of the law. If convicted, Burress could be sentenced to anywhere from 31/2 to 15 years in a state prison.
The Burress matter is still pending and the outcome is unknown at this time. He pleaded not-guilty to criminal weapons charges at the arraignment.
However, Burress has been suspended by the National Football League and the Giants for the rest of the current season for "conduct detrimental to the team," which would include any possible Giants return to the Super Bowl, an event they won last year in part because of Burress' stellar play. He was also placed on the reserve/non-football injury list, a move that means Burress can't return for the playoffs and which could save the Giants from paying Burress the $823,529 dollars that remained on his $3.5 million salary for this season, according to ESPN.
Now, however, the National Football League Players Association has filed a grievance challenging that suspension of Burress. The players' union contends that the team's actions violate the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the NFL.
Burress' arrest on the unregistered gun charge has rekindled an old debate about professional athletes having guns for self-defense or recreation. The NFL policy can't prevent a player from owning or carrying a gun in his private life, but it prohibits players from possessing firearms—legally or illegally— while traveling on league-related business or whenever on the premises of a facility owned, operated or being used by an NFL club, a stadium or any other venue being used for an NFL event.
Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning coach, discussed the Plaxico Burress situation on Nov. 30 in his role on ESPN's NFL Countdown.
And Ditka proposed a simple rule: Simply ban all NFL players from owning guns. Here's what Ditka said, according to NFL Fan House, citing a transcript provided by ESPN:
"This is all about priorities. When you get stature in life, you get the kind of contract, you have an obligation and responsibility to your teammates, to the organization, to the National Football League and to the fans. He just flaunted this money in their face. He has no respect for anybody but himself. I feel sorry for him, in the sense that, I don't understand the league, why can anybody have a gun? I will have a policy, no guns, any NFL players we find out, period, you're suspended."
While Ditka's proposal isn't likely to ever happen, it has added new fuel to the debate.
Not all of the commentary is as negative toward guns as Ditka's. For example, Stephen F. Holder, a staff writer for The St. Petersburg Times, wrote a lengthy article in which some of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers players make a compelling case for owning handguns.
"Noah Herron had never given much thought to personal safety. The Bucs reserve running back and former Green Bay Packer had never had to.
“‘I grew up in the country not being able to even see my neighbor's house. We didn't lock our doors at night," said Herron, a native of Mattawan, MI, in the southwest part of the state. "I even felt like Green Bay (WI) was a small town and nothing would ever happen there. I slept many nights with my doors unlocked. So, with that being said, after feeling threatened for my life, I think (protection) is necessary."
According to The Times article, Herron had never seen himself as a gunowner. But his outlook changed in May, the instant a would-be burglar climbed through a first-floor window in his house while Herron was upstairs in his bedroom. Herron, 5 feet 11 and 218 pounds, thwarted the burglary by disabling one of two suspects, beating him with an unscrewed bedpost. The suspect was hospitalized.
In the event there's a next time, Herron, 26, figures he'll be more prepared. Now he owns a gun, and apparently he is not the only one. Firearms have become a popular means of protection for many NFL players and perhaps for many other highly paid and very visible sports celebrities in various sports leagues. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Delaware police gun checks may violate federal law
The Delaware State Police have been conducting secret background checks of some gunowners since 2001, a process known as "superchecks" that may violate federal law, according to a reported in The News Journal of Newcastle.
The checks have resulted in confiscation of weapons, some for legitimate reasons, but have subjected many citizens to a search of mental health records that in most cases police would be unable to access.
In Delaware, when someone attempts to purchase a pistol or rifle, he or she must first sign a consent form authorizing a criminal and mental health check by the state Firearms Transaction Approval Program (FTAP).
These background checks are initiated when a gun dealer calls the firearms unit seeking approval to sell a weapon.
Employees of FTAP conduct about 10,000 background checks a year using computers that link to criminal and court databases and a state mental health database.
Through a request made under the state Freedom of Information Act, The News Journal obtained the results of nearly 4,000 background checks con- ducted by FTAP from 1998 to 2008 in which gun purchases were denied by state police. The state must destroy records of approved gun purchases within 60 days.
The FTAP program was created by lawmakers, and funded by taxpayers, to aid licensed gun dealers, but The News Journal found that more than 10% of background checks denied by FTAP were requested by state troopers, not by gun dealers attempt- ing to authorize a legal sale.
None of their superchecks involved gun sales and none of the people checked by state police had signed a written consent form. But all the superchecks, state police said, were gun-related.
The state police FTAP unit is the subject of two internal investigations, ordered after The News Journal revealed previously that the unit stopped 81-year- old Alvina Vansickle from buying a .22- caliber pistol for self-defense because she was too old, and a woman, and that FTAP was not routinely destroying records of legal purchases within 60 days, as required.
With her spotless background, Vansickle should have passed the background check when she tried to buy a Taurus revolver from Charlie Steele's Lewes gun shop last August.
Because FTAP checks of legal gun ownership are destroyed, it's impossible to tell from the data how many superchecks state police routinely conduct.
The newspaper reported that Attorney General Beau Biden's office is aware of superchecks, but would not comment on the practice. The AG is the son of vice president elect Joe Biden. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Citizens at Seattle hearings blast mayor's gun ban scheme
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
They out-numbered the opposition three-to-one, presented a determined if sometimes-uncoordinated front, and when it was over, there was no doubt that opponents of a proposed handgun ban in Seattle, WA, were serious about stopping the plan before it starts.
In the process, dozens of armed citizens-turned-gun rights activists noted that anti-gun Mayor Greg Nickels—a founding member of Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns—did not even attend the public hearing on his own proposal. Many suggested that Nickels did not want to face an angry public, many of whom came to the meeting legally armed, including at least a handful of citizens who were open-carrying.
Much of the opposition had been organized by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), a grassroots gun rights organization headquartered in the neighboring city of Bellevue. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb attended the meeting but did not speak. However, CCRKBA Legislative Affairs Director Joe Waldron did speak, and in the 90 seconds he was allowed, Waldron made it clear that banning legally carried handguns from city-owned property would not cut crime, and would bring a legal challenge.
The Nickels gun ban was proposed last June in the wake of a shooting incident at Seattle's 39th annual Folklife Festival, which is something of an homage to the city's counter-culture movement of the 1960s and early '70s. It was the first time in the history of the event that a firearm was involved in an incident, and there is still some speculation that the shooter in that event may have been trying to defend himself from a gun grab. Clinton Chad Grainger did plead guilty, however, to criminal charges.
He was legally licensed to carry the Glock pistol he had in an ankle holster, despite a reported history of mental problems. When Gun Week contacted the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office last summer to inquire about that agency's issuance of a concealed pistol license to Grainger, a spokesman said Grainger's mental history apparently did not appear on his record.
Nickels is not merely after people like Grainger. He wants to ban all legally-carried guns from all city property, which would directly conflict with Washington's long-standing state preemption act. The mayor has acknowledged that he wants to lobby the legislature this session to change the law so that he and other mayors can set their own gun laws. The idea has outraged armed citizens, who believe they are being targeted only for the sake of symbolism.
Among the first speakers were two gay men who cautioned the city against removing their only means of defense against gay bashing, and a female attorney who represents victims of domestic violence. She warned against disarming victims.
Several speakers supported the ban, including one victim of the 2006 shooting at Seattle's Jewish Federation offices. Cheryl Stumbo admitted, however, that the proposed ban would not have prevented the shooting, in which she and four others were wounded and one woman was killed. The suspect in that case, Naveed Haq, told police he was "a Muslim American, angry at Israel." That statement has all but been ignored by Seattle's two daily newspapers over the past 21/2 years as they covered Haq's first trial.
CCRKBA paid for the production of anti-Nickels buttons that were handed out by the group's Mark Taff to more than 100 members of the audience. Many of those same citizens brought anti-Nickels signs to the hearing.
The hearing was set up so that supporters and opponents of the proposed ban would alternate at the microphone, but the opposition was so overwhelming that after the first hour of public comment, supporters ran out of speakers. After that, it was a steady stream of opponents who presented facts, opinion and anecdotal information to a panel of city department heads.
Also noticeably absent from the hearing was Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. He came in for some criticism, however, over the loss of his own pistol, taken from his car three years ago on a downtown street while Kerlikowske and his wife were doing some post-holiday shopping. At least one speaker noted that Kerlikowske's still-unrecovered pistol is more of a threat to public safety than legally armed citizens.
As reported in the last issue of Gun Week, Nickels admitted more than two years ago in a letter to Washington State House Speaker Frank Chopp that he, Nickels, did not have the authority under state law to adopt such a gun ban. Copies of that letter were circulated to reporters at the meeting.
There is little doubt that if Nickels declares a gun ban by executive order, it will face an immediate challenge by CCRKBA's sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
NSSF Bullet Points:
NSSF – 01/05/2009
Legal & Legislative
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->NEW YORK ASSEMBLYMAN DEFENDS SPORTSMEN . . . New York Assemblyman Greg Ball, set to receive the 2008 NSSF Legislator of the Year award at the SHOT Show, once again demonstrated his strong support for hunting and the firearms community by urging Gov. David Paterson to restore funding to the Reynolds Game Farm in upstate New York. A budget recommendation from the state Department of Environmental Conservation calls for the facility's closure. "Budget reductions are a necessity and DEC must suffer along with other agencies," Ball said. "However, a decision to close New York's last remaining pheasant rearing facility, which provides millions in revenue to our economy, without seeking an input from the people who are paying for it -- the sportsmen of New York -- is disturbing at the least."
NSSF – 12/22/2008
Salazar Nomination Welcomed by Hunters
COLORADO SENATOR NAMED INTERIOR SECRETARY . . . President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus member Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) as Secretary of the Interior. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, along with the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Safari Club International and other sportsmen's organizations, applauded the nomination. "Sen. Salazar has a long record of supporting hunters," said NSSF President Steve Sanetti. "As Interior secretary, we are confident that he will continue to stand up for sportsmen's rights." Salazar was a supporter of the recent rule change allowing the lawful concealed carry of firearms in national parks. Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, the Colorado senator has consistently voted in favor of pro-hunting legislation as a tool of sound wildlife and game management. Sen. Salazar Bio | Acceptance Speech
In the News
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->COURT RULES LAWSUIT AGAINST BLOOMBERG BACK TO STATE COURT . . . A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a $400 million lawsuit claiming New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg libeled a Georgia firearms retailer must be returned to the state Superior Court in Cobb County, where the lawsuit was originally filed, the Associated Press reports. The legal battle involves Adventure Outdoor Sports of Smyrna, Ga., one of 15 gun dealers sued by Bloomberg, who referred to the stores as "rogue gun dealers." Read the court's complete decision.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS CHICAGO'S HANDGUN BAN . . . Despite this summer's Supreme Court decision, reaffirming an individual's right to own a firearm, which was directed against the District of Columbia's handgun ban, a federal judge upheld Chicago's 1982 handgun ban. Though other Illinois cities repealed their handgun bans following the Heller Decision, Chicago's Mayor Daley fought to uphold his city's ban, and U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur sided with Chicago's argument. In his ruling, however, Shadur appeared to caution the city that its victory might be short-lived as the case is appealed to a higher court.
CCRKBA --NEWS RELEASE
12/29/2008 -- POLICE FATALITIES FOR ’08 PROVE CCW LAWS NO THREAT TO COPS, SAYS CCRKBA
BELLEVUE, WA – Another bogus argument of gun control extremists – that sensible concealed carry laws create an increased threat to police officers – has been refuted by statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and published by USA Today.
The number of officer fatalities due to gunfire is the lowest in 50 years, noted Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. A report out Monday said that this year, 41 officers have died from gunshot wounds, down 40 percent from the 68 who died by gunfire in 2007. Yet the number of concealed carry permits issued by the states has risen, dramatically in some areas, in the past 12 months.
“Better training and equipment have contributed to this decline,” Gottlieb stated, “but it must be noted for the record that growing numbers of legally-armed citizens have not resulted in more police slayings. That has been one of the many lame arguments offered by gun control fanatics over the past few years when they fought against expanded concealed carry rights.
“The death of one police officer is a tragedy,” he continued, “but common sense right-to-carry statutes have no relation to the criminal slayings of police officers, and anti-gun rights extremists know it.”
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reports that more officers have died in traffic-related incidents than in shootings, same as last year, Gottlieb noted.
“There are, today, more legally-armed citizens than ever before,” he commented, “and more privately-owned firearms than ten or even five years ago. More Americans own semiautomatic sport-utility rifles, growing numbers of women own guns for personal protection and more citizens are involved in shooting sports.
“None of these law-abiding citizens pose any threat to public safety, and especially to the safety of our local police,” Gottlieb concluded. “We expect the new Congress, and state legislatures around the country, to keep this in perspective as the gun ban lobby mounts new attacks on firearm civil rights in 2009.”
Gun Owners of America NEWS RELEASE:
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
National Geographic Channel ran a show last night entitled, "Gun In America." According to the program, there are millions of misguided gun owners across the nation. Why? Because your guns are supposedly more likely to harm you than to help you in an emergency.
"As a society, we're totally out of control with weapons," said one Philadelphia cop who was interviewed during the show. "You need to limit access that people have to these type of firearms."
That was the basic thrust of the program. National Geographic recited the usual worn-out factoids that are peddled by the Brady Campaign. It only cited anti-gun cops. And for every person who was filmed stating he or she believed in a right to own firearms for self-defense, the program would cite "facts" to prove that such a hope was misplaced.
Gun owners should let the President and CEO of National Geographic know that the channel should stick to showing pictures of kangaroos and foliage -- images that we normally attribute to National Geographic's magazine -- and keep his personal, anti-gun views to his private conversations around the Christmas dinner table.
The National Geographic Channel presents itself as an educational, unbiased alternative. But "Guns in America" was hardly unbiased, as can be seen by the following agenda items that were pushed during the program:
1. "Guns in America" would have you believe that the guns in your home are 22 times more likely to kill a family member than to protect you. This statistic can (surprise, surprise!) be found on the Brady Campaign website, but its source has been highly discredited. The factoid originates with Arthur Kellerman, who has generated multiple studies claiming that guns are a net liability.(1) But Kellerman has been found guilty of fudging his data, and even the National Academy of Sciences has stated that his "conclusions do not seem to follow" from his data.(2)
The truth of the matter is actually quite encouraging for gun owners.
Anti-gun researchers for the Clinton Justice Department found that guns are used 1.5 million times annually for self-defense, which means that each year, firearms are used more than 50 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.(3)
Isn't that strange? You would think anti-gunners wouldn't mind citing a study that was commissioned by the Clinton Justice Department! Apparently, the results of the study didn't fit their agenda.
2. "Guns in America" overstates the number of children who die by unintentional gunfire. The program would have viewers believe that a child dies by accidental gunfire, once every two days. But you can only reach that figure if you count violent-prone teens as "children."
In fact, when you look at the statistics involving younger children (ages 0-14), you see that kids have a greater chance of dying from choking on things like the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that you feed them.(4) Hmm, why doesn't National Geographic want to report on those killer peanuts?
3. "Guns in America" portrays twelve times as many negative uses of guns as positive uses -- even though in the real world, the truth is quite the opposite (as guns are used at least 50 times more often to save life than take life). The program does start with a dramatization of a legitimate self-defense story with an actual 911 call playing in the background. But after that, every dramatization is about drive-by-shootings or cops being shot or gang-related warfare.
The lesson for the viewer is: Guns are bad.
4. "Guns in America" only quotes anti-gun "authorities," thus leaving the impression that all law-enforcement support gun control. Never mind the fact that when one looks at polls of the police community, they overwhelmingly hold pro-gun attitudes:
* Should any law-abiding citizen be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self defense? -- 93% of law-enforcement said yes.(5)
* Do you believe law-abiding citizens should be limited to the purchase of no more than one firearm per month? -- 70.1% of law-enforcement said no.(6)
* Do you agree that a national concealed handgun permit would reduce rates of violent crime as recent studies in some states have already reflected? -- 68.2% of law-enforcement said yes.(7)
It's bad enough that a liberal teacher's union controls the education of our kids in the public schools, and that many of them are being brainwashed with politically correct thinking. We don't need supposedly neutral programs like National Geographic peddling the Brady Campaign's favorite factoids to an unsuspecting public.
ACTION: Please contact Tim T. Kelly, the President and CEO of National Geographic Ventures (which includes their television division), and urge him to steer the NatGeo channel away from politics. If the National Geographic Channel can't run a balanced program -- where they use real statistics -- then they just need to stick to filming those cute little animals that helped make their magazine so famous.
You can go to http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/contact to cut-and-paste the sample letter below into their webform. Since you will need to select a Topic, please choose "I have a complaint."
And for "Department," we would suggest selecting "Factual Questions" or "General."
---- Pre-written letter ----
Dear Mr. Kelly:
I will think twice before ordering the National Geographic magazine, because I don't want to help you fund any more anti-gun propaganda.
Your Explorer show entitled "Guns In America" -- which has run several times this month -- was heavily slanted to the gun control position. The show used fallacious statistics without rebutting them, all in an effort to demonize firearms.
For example, "Guns in America" falsely claimed that guns in the home are 22 times more likely to kill a family member than to serve as protection. That is simply not true. The author of this study, Arthur Kellerman, has been discredited many times (by groups such as the National Academy of Sciences), so it's shameful that your channel would even cite his work.
Second, "Guns in America" overstates the number of children who die by unintentional gunfire. In fact, when you look at the statistics involving younger children (ages 0-14), you see that kids have a greater chance of dying from choking on things like the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that you feed them. Can I expect to see a show in the near future highlighting the danger of feeding children?
Third, "Guns in America" portrays twelve times as many negative uses of guns as positive uses -- even though in the real world, the truth is quite the opposite. According to statistics from the Clinton Justice Department in 2007, guns are used at least 50 times more often to save life than take life.
Finally, "Guns in America" only quotes anti-gun "authorities," thus leaving the impression that all law-enforcement support gun control.
Never mind the fact that when one looks at polls of the police community, they overwhelmingly hold pro-gun attitudes. (Please see the poll results on the website for the National Association of Chiefs of Police.) Why were none of these authorities ever cited?
The National Geographic Society's purpose is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources." I would submit to you that pushing gun control is far afield from your stated purpose.
Sincerely,
--------------------------------
ENDNOTES:
(1) Arthur Kellerman has generated multiple studies that claim gun owners are more likely to be injured by their guns than to use those guns in self-defense. His results range from 3 to 22 to 43 times more likely to be injured by a gun in the home. His methodology has been debunked, however, many times over. (See endnote 2.)
(2) See http://www.gunowners.org/sk0701.htm . Also, see Charles F.
Wellford, John Pepper, Carol Petrie, Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review (National Research Council of the National Academies, 2004), p. 118.
(3) See http://www.gunowners.org/sk0802.htm
(4) See "Children Accidental Death Rates (Ages 0-14)," Gun Control Fact Sheet (2004) at http://www.gunowners.org/fs0404.htm
(5) National Association of Chiefs of Police, 20th Annual Survey Results (Survey questions sent to Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States: 2008).
(6) National Association of Chiefs of Police, 15th Annual Survey Results (Survey questions sent to Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States).
(7) Ibid.
Hindsights
The lessons of Mumbai massacre being discussed worldwide
by Joseph P. Tartaro, Executive Editor
When the Islamic terrorists opened fire on the innocent people in Mumbai, India, at the end of November— including American and British tourists and businessmen, they also opened up a worldwide re-examination of government policies which disarm the citizenry and leave them prey for criminals, terrorists and genocidal governments. Whether any of the editorials and commentaries which are appearing in the news media around the world, and on the Internet, will be read by or influence the anti-gun officials in India or at the United Nations remains to be seen.
However, the terrorists apparently delivered a sobering lesson to many peace-loving citizens. Peace, like freedom, is not free. Someone has to pay for it.
From Canada's National Post come these thoughts from a column by George Jonas which was headlined "...Guns don't kill people, terrorists do."
Jonas wrote in the Dec. 13 column: "The terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month claimed some 500 casualties, dead and injured. Among the many questions raised by the outrage, there was a purely practical one: Why was the attack so successful? How could so few terrorists claim so many victims?
"One obvious answer is firepower," Jonas answered that question. "Guns were illegal in the hands of both the terrorists and the victims. The victims obeyed the laws, the terrorists didn't. The police had guns, of course, but instead of protecting people, they stayed away until the massacre was practically over. Gun laws—surprise, surprise!— weren't strong enough to defend victims, only strong enough to keep victims from defending themselves."
Then Jonas referenced the column by Richard Munday in The London Times, the original draft of which that was submitted to The Times appears on Page 4 of this issue.
"India's gun control, one of the strictest in the world, goes back to the 19th century when Britain introduced it to forestall a repetition of the Indian Mutiny. The guns used in last week's Bombay massacre were all "prohibited weapons" under Indian law,' wrote Richard Munday in the Times Online, 'just as they are in Britain.' The terrorists were successful because they didn't obey the gun control law rooted in the Raj, while their victims did."
But then Jonas turns his prism on the issue to a more global perspective.
"India isn't alone," he wrote. "Many countries, including Canada, have gone out of their way to make criminals as invincible and victims as vulnerable as possible. This isn't the aim, of course, only the result," Jonas noted.
"Guns don't kill, people do." The gun lobby's old slogan is true enough, but it's also true that guns make people more efficient killers. That's why gun control would be such a splendid idea if someone could find a way to make criminals and lunatics obey it. Since only law-abiding citizens obey it, it's not such a hot idea. It's more like trying to control stray dogs by neutering veterinarians.
"The police carry guns for a reason: They're great tools for law-enforcement. No doubt, guns make criminals more efficient, but they make crime-fighters more efficient, too. Letting firearms become the monopoly of lawbreakers, far from enhancing public safety, is detrimental to it. What you want is more armed people, not fewer, on the side of the. law. It would be hard to imagine a Mumbai-type atrocity in Dodge City—or in Edwardian Europe, for that matter, where gentlemen routinely carried handguns for protection.
"Some regard carrying guns uncivilized," Jonas continued. "I'd hesitate to call an era of legal guns in the hands of Edwardian gentlemen less civilized—or less safe—than our own era of illegal guns in the hands of drug dealers and terrorists. The civilized place was turn- of-the century London, where citizens carried guns and the police didn't. In any event, a constitutional guarantee to one's 'security of person' shouldn't depend on how fast a 911 operator can pick up the phone.
"Society needs crime control, not gun control. Munday writes that 'violent crime in America has plummeted' in the past two decades after the majority of states enacted 'right to carry' legislation and issued permits to carry concealed weapons to citizens of good repute. I think there were many reasons for the decline, but 'right to carry' certainly wasn't detrimental to it.
"There are Second Amendment absolutists in America, and libertarians elsewhere, who regard a person's birthright to own/carry a firearm beyond the state's power to regulate. I'm not one of them. I think it's reasonable for communities to set thresholds of age, proficiency, legal status, etc., for the possession of lethal weapons, just as they set standards for the operation of motor vehicles, airplanes and ham radios. But it seems to me that, within common sense perimeters, you'd want to enhance, not diminish, the defensive capacity of the good guys, and increase rather than decrease the number of auxiliary crime-fighters who are avail- able to be deputized when the bad guys
start climbing over the fence," concluded Jonas before also citing the Ghandi quote about colonial British gun control laws in India which Munday cited in his London column.
Perhaps this report from The Times of India newspaper also will shed some light on why the terrorists were able to wreak such carnage in Mumbai.
"The state constabulary was grossly unprepared to deal with the worst- ever terror attacks on the metropolis because of an acute shortage of weapons and ammunition.
"Official records show that for a force of well over 1.8 lakh, the home department procured a meager 2,221 weapons-577 for Mumbai, and 1,644 for the rest of Maharashtra.
"Under the centrally sponsored modernization program, we purchased almost all types of weapons, but for a state like Maharashtra, the number of weapons was grossly inadequate," a senior official told The Times of India.
In the absence of a firing range and of ammunition for practice, members of the law enforcement agencies have not opened fire in the last ten years. "I've been in the police force for a long time, but I had no occasion to open fire for practice," a senior inspector of police said.
As per the police manual, officials ranking from constable to assistant inspector get rifles with 30 rounds,- each, and those with the rank of police sub-inspector and above get revolvers, also with 30 rounds each.
Jawans with the State Reserve Police Force are given semi-automatic rifles. In addition, AK-47 rifles have been given to officials posted in areas where there is Naxal activity, while officials on VIP security duty are armed with either revolvers or carbines.
The manual also prescribes mandatory training for all officials, especially shooting practice at the firing range. According to a senior IPS official, the norms prescribed in the manual now exist only on paper because of the acute shortage of ammunition for practice and the non-availability of a firing range.
As per the rules, every district should have a firing range exclusively for the police. But official records indicate that more than half the state's districts have no independent firing range.
"We have constables who have not opened fire even for practice ever since their recruitment," one official told The Times of India.
From Internet blogs it is quite apparent that at least some-people are taking the lessons of the Mumbai terrorist attack to heart. Their comments illustrate that at least the public is paying attention to those lessons, even if the politicians and social engineers are not.
What is important to remember is that the Mumbai attack could be replicated in any major city in, any country that has rigid laws which deny their people the right to fight back against predators and lunatics. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Bush team, Mexico bicker over semi-auto ban renewal
by Joseph P. Tartaro, Executive Editor
Gunowners in America have been waiting for the incoming Obama Administration to drop the other shoe ever since the president-elect started to appoint a number of known anti- gunners to his new Cabinet and advisory staff.
President-elect Barack Obama's reassurances aside, as reported elsewhere on this page, his selection of firearms civil rights opponents such as Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff, Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of state and Eric Holder as his attorney general have tended to raise gunowner concerns.
Certainly the recent consumer rush to buy up military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns shows that the public expects a renewal of the ban on so-called assault weapons and some legislation to limit handguns to be top priorities of the new White House which will take office on Jan. 20. Curiously, such a drive comes at a time when more and more companies are developing new and better variants of AR 15 and similar military-origin semi-automatics, as can be seen by some of Gun Week's SHOT Show 2009 preview reports in this issue.
While the Brady Campaign would be happy to have any anti-gun initiative rolling on Capitol Hill, it would certainly be delighted with a new ban on semi-autos, particularly one that would not have a sunset provision as the Clinton-Biden ban did. The sunset provision proved a very sensible route. Ten years after the ban was enacted, it was allowed to expire by the Congress and the White House, both of which could find that the ban had, any impact on crime statistics while in force.
But now, new international voices have been added to the choir of the apostles of gun prohibition.
Mexican Pressure
The Houston Chronicle reported that a senior US law enforcement official said on Dec. 19 that the Bush Administration never assessed whether 'a decade-long assault weapon ban had reduced the flow of high-powered guns into the hands of Mexican drug gangs.
"I don't think we've ever really tracked it," said William McMahon, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Since the expiration of the ban in 2004, Mexican drug syndicates have built up their stockpiles, Mexican officials say. They have long main tained that the weapons—many bought in Texas• and smuggled into Mexico— have escalated the country's drug-fueled violence that has killed more than 5,400 people this year.
US officials, by contrast, have insisted that the overriding challenge is to stem the relentless flood of illegal narcotics to American users.
The controversy flared last month when the US secretary of state and the Mexican foreign minister appeared at a joint news conference.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the ban's expiration had no bearing on Mexico's violence.
"I follow arms trafficking across the world, and I've never known illegal arms traffickers who cared very much about the law," Rice said. "And so I simply don't accept the notion that the lifting of the ban somehow has led arms traffickers to increase their activity."
But Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa said authorities in her country would favor restoration of the ban.
"If on the US side there were a legislative decision to adopt an initiative like that, we would obviously be very attentive to that," she said, couching her nation's interest in typical diplomatic jargon.
Gun rights' groups suspect that President-elect Barack Obama may try to revive the ban on some automatic weapons, The Chronicle said, ignoring the fact that automatic arms—including real "assault weapons" as defined by the Pentagon—have been strictly controlled in the US since 1934.
Transition Team
However, the newspaper did report that Obama's transition team listed "making the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent" as one of the goals of the incoming administration.
Rice and Espinosa met to coordinate implementation of the first phase of the Merida Initiative. The three-year, $1.4 billion US assistance program was crafted by President George W. Bush to help Mexico combat the drug-smuggling gangs.
Of the initial $400 million due Mexico under the Merida Initiative, $340.2 million has been cleared for distribution. But timetables for equipment procurement and spending schedules mean that none of the direct assistance has reached Mexico so far, said a State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Aside from the issue of US support for Mexico's campaign against the drug cartels, one wonders if the incoming Obama Administration will be more attentive to international advice on the firearms civil rights issue. If so, Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, will be in a position to support anti-gun initiatives at the hemispheric and global levels.
Apparently, of greater importance than short-circuiting the importation of drugs into the US from Mexico, Central and South America is the issue of preventing Americans from protecting themselves with modern firearms, if not on a par with those used by the military, at least more up- to-date than grandpa's old 8-shot M1 Garand.
And even if the US renewed a ban on so-called assault weapons, there appears little likelihood that it would stem either the flow of illicit drugs into the US from Mexico and other areas south of the border, or of reducing the carnage in Mexico itself.
Ban Irrelevant
A ban on semi-automatic firearms, or even some semi-automatic firearms, is irrelevant to the drug problem in this country, and in neighboring nations.
People who kill and maim—even behead squads of soldiers as happened in Mexico in December—couldn't care less about US gun prohibitions any more than they do about US drug laws. They know they can always get all the guns they want—including machineguns, submachineguns and RPGs—from Cuba, Columbia and Peru, as well as other hemispheric neighbors, many of which supply the drugs they or their agents sell in the US. In many cases, the arms they need for their illegal businesses will come from the same countries where they acquire their tons of drugs.
However, the voices of politically acceptable foreign governments will be used by anti-gun American politicians to prop up their arguments that such new gun laws would improve America's relations:with other countries and burnish the image of the US abroad. Why either is desirable, I'm not sure. But it will make for more new headlines, and for footnotes in any future debate about the advisability of enacting a new ban on popular modern firearms.
The big question may be: if such a new ban is passed and signed into law, will it include a grandfather clause for those millions of similar firearms that -Americans already possess? If not, we would be in for a lot more trouble than our present economic crisis.
Such a law would certainly violate the individual protections guaranteed by the Second Amendment, thereby making the US constitution irrelevant in our time. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
News Briefs:
Cops send MG to granny
A grandmother in the United Kingdom (UK) has told of her terror at opening a parcel she had been expecting—only to find she had been sent a police machinegun, according to sky.com/ news, a multi-platform news provider.
Catherine Roots had been expecting a horse harness to be delivered to her home in Winfrith, Dorset, UK. But she got a nasty shock when she saw a black Heckler and Koch submachinegun staring back at her. The package was delivered by mistake and should have been sent to firearms officers at a nearby police HQ.
Police later explained a gun supply company made a mistake with the postal code when they sent it to Dorset Police HQ in Winfrith near Dorchester. A clerk at the company wrote down Roots' postal code, which differs only by a single letter.
Roots was later told the weapon was in fact a realistic-looking training gun that fires infra-red beams.
Assistant Chief Constable Adrian Whiting, of Dorset Police, said: "Because this item isn't actually a firearm it is lawful for the company, the suppliers, to use a courier as they did." The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
Washington, DC, Council enacts tougher gun law
Nearly six months after the Supreme Court put an end to the District of Columbia's decades-old ban on handgun possession, the Washington, DC, City Council passed a sweeping new ordinance on Dec.16 to regulate gun ownership, according to The New York Times and other sources.
The legislation would require all gunowners to receive five hours of safety training, register their firearms every three years, and undergo a criminal background check every six years. In addition, another new provision of the law would require certain handguns to have "micrOstamping" technology beginning in 2011.
Councilman Phil Mendelson, who helped draft the bill and shepherd it through the Council, called it a "very significant piece of legislation that borrows best practices from other states."
Opponents said the legislation flew in the face of the Supreme Court ruling in June.
"The DC Council continues to try to make it harder and harder for law- abiding citizens to access this freedom," Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told the Associated Press.
Since the Supreme Court struck down the district's handgun ban, the Council had stitched together a series of emergency measures to regulate gun owner ship as tightly as possible, given the high court's ruling that the city's earlier law was unconstitutional. Those included allowing residents to keep handguns, rifles and shotguns unlocked in their homes, but only if they were used for self-defense. First, the handguns were limited to revolvers; then semi-autos of limited capacity were allowed, but there were no licensed dealers in the city from which residents could acquire handguns.
This past fall members of Congress sought to pass a bill that would have rolled back some of the temporary restrictions, but it stalled in the Senate after passing in the House of Representatives. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
TX lawmaker hopes to legalize campus carry
Texas State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio), author of 2007's castle doctrine law, which gives Texans the right to defend against an intruder if they feel threatened at their home, business or car, says Texas needs at least one more gun law, and he is planning to author it.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that Wentworth is drafting a bill that, if the legislature approves and Gov. Rick Perry signs into law, would allow Texans, including students, teachers, administrators and visitors—with concealed gun permits to carry on college campuses, where weapons are now prohibited.
Wentworth, a Texas Tech law school graduate who has served in the legislature 20 years—mostly in the Senate— said he has heard all the opposition arguments before. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
A $4.5 million to-one shot
From the "Only police should have guns file" comes a one-in-a million story..: . er, a 4.5 million shot.
A veteran New York Police Detective (NYPD) detective who accidentally put a bullet in his knee after he stumbled out of a busted chair in a Brooklyn station house hobbled away at the beginning of December with a cool $4.5 million jury verdict, according to The New York Post.
Anderson Alexander, 49, sued the city for putting the defective chair into use at the 73rd Precinct in Ocean Hill-Brownsville where the detective had the misfortune to lean back while taking a rest following a lengthy New Year's Eve shift.
The freak accident took place on Jan. 1, 2002, following a 14- hour stint with the elite Street Crimes Unit, a plainclothes task force.
Alexander, a Navy veteran, was asked to hold a 9mm Smith & Wesson belonging to another detective, Peter Schrammer, while Schrammer moved a suspect to a holding area.
Alexander obliged and leaned back in his seat so he could slide the weapon into his waistband.
Alexander underwent two surgeries and months of physical therapy. His lawyer, Matthew Maiorana, said a knee replacement at some point in the future was a virtual certainty.
He retired from the NYPD in 2003 with a three-quarter pension. He now makes $24,000 a year as a court officer in South Carolina.
The jury's unanimous decision, reached on Nov. 18, was made without the benefit of the actual chair. Because the city failed to preserve it, jurors had to rely on witness accounts to decide whether it was defective.
The city's law department is appealing the verdict. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
Six killed in Viet gun battle
Maybe guns are illegal for Vietnamese civilians, but criminals still get and use them.
Six people have been killed in a gun battle between rival gangs in one of Vietnam's most popular tourist areas, according to the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).
Gang members, driving cars and motorbikes, shot at each other during a high-speed chase through the northern city of Ha Long.
Incidents like this are extremely unusual in Vietnam, where it is illegal to own a gun, according to the BBC.
Tens of thousands of tourists visit Ha Long bay every year to see the spectacular rock formations there.
The gun battle is believed to have taken place near a coal port early on Dec. 15. Police are investigating the cause of the shootout, but local media reported that the killings stemmed from a turf war between two gangs.
It was unclear whether those killed were bystanders or involved in the chase. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
LA council again tightens ammo laws
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a package of gun control laws on Dec. 17, placing new requirements on all ammunition sellers and buyers and banning the sale of .50-caliber ammunition, presumably in the hopes of further reducing the city's, gun and gang violence, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The measures ban the sale of .50- caliber ammunition and would require the city's ammunition vendors to be licensed, to sell ammunition face-to-face instead of over the Internet and require gun dealers to report a full accounting of their inventory twice a year to the city's police department.
The council also passed laws
prohibiting the installation of secret compartments for guns in cars and allowing the city to permanently seize vehicles used by certain gang members during a crime, a proposal sponsored by City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo.
The council also approved an ordinance that would allow landlords to evict tenants who are convicted of illegally possessing weapons or ammunition within 1,000 feet of the rental property.
According to The Times, a lawyer for the National Rifle Association said his client probably would file suit to block some of the measures. The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
OK lawmakers want to repeal sales tax on guns
A Tulsa, OK, lawmaker said on Dec. 16 he will file legislation to repeal the sales tax on the purchase of guns or ammunition in Oklahoma.
"As Americans, we should not have to pay a tax to exercise our constitutional rights—especially our Second Amendment rights," said Rep. Eric Proctor, (D-Tulsa), according to The Tulsa World.
The measure, by Proctor and state Sen. Kenneth Corn (D-Howe) will not affect any dedicated revenue stream for wildlife or other programs, Proctor said, adding it would have minimal impact on the state treasury.
"In Oklahoma, we have a long tradition of sportsmanship and hunting that precedes statehood and we should protect that heritage," Proctor said.
"People shouldn't have to pay a tax to the government if they need a gun in the home for self-protection," Proctor said. "No matter what, the responsibility to protect your family is greater than the state's need to generate taxes." The New GUN WEEK, January 15, 2009
Ex-OK detective pleads guilty
From the "Only Cops Should Have Guns" file comes news out of Oklahoma that former Muskogee Police Detective Kris Ledford pleaded guilty in federal court in November to charges that he possessed stolen firearms and had falsely claimed to have received the Purple Heart.
According to The Tulsa World, the 30-year-old Ledford will spend the next three to five years behind bars concurrent with time he will serve on state charges of grand larceny, embezzlement and false declaration of ownership.
The newspaper reported that Ledford admitted to Magistrate Judge Kimberly E. West that he had used his position as a police officer to steal several firearms. Those guns were given away, sold or pawned. He had also lied to a police captain that he had earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, which is a federal misdemeanor. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Gun under pillow costs license
A German who slept with a loaded revolver under his pillow has lost his gun license after a court ruled it to be irresponsible behavior, according to a Reuters news service report from Berlin.
His home was being inspected by police because he had threatened to throw a hand grenade if the city council approved plans to build a high-voltage power line in his neighborhood, according to the judge. "The decision to take his license was made independently," he said.
The 56-year-old was stripped of his license for failing to store the weapon properly, administrative court judge Torsten Baumgarten told Reuters on Nov. 25. The gun was only discovered by chance during the police inspection.
Baumgarten said the ruling, which sets a legal precedent in Germany, in effect outlaws sleeping on top of a firearm. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Deer gets revenge on hunter
A Missouri hunter bagged a big buck on the second day of the state's recent firearms season, but the kill caused him a lot of pain, according to The Sedalia Democrat.
Randy Goodman, 49, said he thought two well-placed shots with his .270-caliber rifle had killed the buck on Nov. 19. Goodman said the deer looked dead to him, but seconds later the nine-point, 240-pound animal came to life.
The buck rose up, knocked Goodman down and attacked him with his antlers in what the veteran hunter called "15 seconds of hell." The deer ran a short distance and went down, and died after Goodman fired two more shots.
Soon Goodman started feeling dizzy and noticed his vest was soaked in blood.
So he reached his truck and drove to a hospital, where he received seven staples in his scalp. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
Oops! Robber sets gun down
A Tampa, FL, man suspected of armed robbery apparently forgot a key tactic for a successful armed robbery: Hang on to the gun.
Police said Jerome Haggins, 42, armed with a pistol, entered a Tampa home on the night of Nov. 29, ordered six men to the floor and demanded they give up their wallets and jewelry.
He forced them to take off their clothes and noticed one of the men had not given up a bracelet.
Haggins put his pistol on a table, walked over to the man and snatched the bracelet, police said.
While Haggins was taking the bracelet, one of the other men grabbed the gun and pointed it at Haggins, police said.
The men held Haggins until police arrived. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
School shooter denied CCW
This story belongs in the ironic Weekly Bullet column.
An Arkansas man who as a child helped gun down four middle school students and a teacher applied for a concealed-carry permit under a different name but was denied, police said on Dec. 9, according to Associated Press.
Andrew Golden, 22, applied for the permit under the name of Drew Grant, listing a home address in Evening Shade—only 55 miles from Jonesboro, where he and classmate Mitchell Johnson lured students into gunfire in 1998 during a fake fire drill, police spokesman Bill Sadler said.
Golden changed his name after his release from prison last year. In a recent ruling, Craighead County Circuit Judge David Burnett had barred lawyers from releasing Golden's new name or home address.
But fingerprints provided with the concealed-carry permit matched those given by Golden at age 11 in the aftermath of the shooting, Sadler said.
"Early on in the application process, some red flags went up with the identity of the applicant who had listed his name as Drew Grant," Sadler told The Associated Press. "After some further checking, there was a determination made that he was one and the same as Andrew Golden." The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2009
News links
09/01/06 Editorial: Gun Purchases - Follow N.J.'s lead
Even though New Jersey officials long ago put in place the nation's second-toughest firearms restrictions, many are prepared, with Gov. Corzine's backing, to kick it up a notch by enacting a monthly limit on handgun buyers.
As soon as next month, the state Senate could vote on a measure approved by the state Assembly that would impose a one-handgun-per-month limit. At the same time, the Assembly's calendar contains another smart gun-safety measure that would ban .50-caliber sniper rifles capable of targeting a plane.
By pushing for a handgun limit, Trenton lawmakers would be making a powerful statement: In effect, the struggle to keep communities safe from gun violence requires going the extra mile, and then some.
That effort deserves the full support of lawmakers from South Jersey, including Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester). But Sweeney is not yet on board with the proposal, and seems to be quoting from the NRA's bullet points about the need to enforce existing gun regulations more fully.
Anyone who has tried to purchase a handgun in the state can imagine how tough it must be to skirt the regs. Handgun buyers have to go through a number of checks and approvals. But it's still a fact that some legal gun buyers are making purchases and then reselling those weapons to criminals.
Even though most guns recovered after crimes in cities like Camden, Newark and Jersey City were originally purchased legally out of state, nearly a third of Jersey criminals' guns are estimated to have been first sold in-state.
That means there's good reason to clamp down on so-called "straw" buyers, who legally acquire weapons that are then trafficked to criminals. Limiting purchases by these rogue gun buyers will save lives if even a single weapon is kept out of a criminal's hands.
New Jersey's example ought not be lost on lawmakers in Harrisburg, where policymakers have been reluctant to buck the National Rifle Association's vise-like grip on gun laws in Pennsylvania.
In stark contrast to New Jersey, the rules for handgun purchases in the Keystone State are shockingly lax. As such, handgun trafficking is more widespread, since it's so much easier for straw buyers to acquire weapons. That's why many of Philadelphia's toughest neighborhood streets are awash in illegal handguns.
Gov. Rendell has favored a one-handgun-per-month law since his days as Philadelphia mayor. As governor, he has lobbied passionately for the General Assembly to approve this gun-safety measure. Given the grim toll of city police officers shot with illegal handguns, it's unconscionable for lawmakers to continue to carry water for the NRA.
Since so many illegal handguns come from out of state, New Jersey's gun-trafficking problem could well be reduced if neighboring states limited handgun purchases. But Trenton officials need to take steps within their control to stem gun violence, and then hope that other enlightened leaders follow suit. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/37132569.html
09/01/05 Boy, 4, Shoots Babysitter For Stepping On His Foot
JACKSON, Ohio (AP) ― Police say a 4-year-old boy in southern Ohio shot his babysitter because the sitter accidentally stepped on his foot. Police said 18-year-old Nathan Beavers and several other teenagers were babysitting several young children in a mobile home in Jackson on Sunday when the shooting occurred.
Witnesses told police the 4-year-old retrieved the shotgun from a bedroom closet and shot Beavers. Police said the child was angry because Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot.
Beavers was hospitalized with minor pellet wounds to his arm and side.
Police say another teen was also injured with shotgun pellets.
Jackson County Sheriff John Shashteen said authorities are investigating the shooting. The child has not been charged
http://kdka.com/national/shooting.babysitter.ohio.2.900762.html
09/01/05 Some US cities drop criminal-history question from job applications
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Hoping to prevent convicts from being shut out of the work force, some major U.S. cities are eliminating questions from their job applications that ask whether prospective employees have ever been convicted of a crime.
Most of the cities still conduct background checks after making conditional job offers, but proponents say the new approach will help more convicts find work and reduce the likelihood they will commit new crimes.
"This makes sense in terms of reducing violence. The amount of recidivism — committing crimes again — in this population is dramatic, and it has taken a toll on this community," said John DeStefano, mayor of New Haven, where officials recently proposed a so-called "ban the box" ordinance that drops the criminal-history question from job applications.
Similar measures have been adopted in recent years in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Baltimore, San Francisco, Oakland, Calif., and Norwich, Conn. Los Angeles and other cities are considering doing so.
Some cities such as Chicago continue to conduct criminal background checks for all positions. Others such as Boston do so only when reviewing applicants for school jobs or other sensitive duties.
In New Haven, 25 former prisoners arrive each week after being released. Without help, about 10 of them will return to a life of crime, officials said. The city has some 5,000 residents on probation or parole.
New Haven's existing application asks whether prospective employees have ever been convicted of anything other than minor traffic violations or juvenile offenses.
Shelton Tucker, a New Haven resident who served five years in prison for assault with a firearm, said he has lost countless job opportunities because of his record.
"There were some times I was tempted to go back to my old way of making money," Tucker said. "I fell off the wagon a few times. You get stuck with this decision of telling the truth and possibly never being called or lying to get the job and losing it later."
Tucker, who was recently laid off from a glass company because of the weak economy, said eliminating the criminal-history question would encourage more people to apply for jobs. But, he said, the policy will not solve the problem, noting that criminal background checks would still be conducted.
"In a way it's just window dressing," Tucker said.
Cities that have dropped the question could not say how many convicts they have hired. Baltimore has had a hiring freeze since it banned the box nearly a year ago, officials said.
Proponents acknowledge that changing the application is not a panacea, but they insist it allows people with criminal records to get a foot in the door.
Cities are also creating standards for determining whether a criminal record is relevant to the job.
In Chicago, where more than 20,000 inmates return from prison annually and two-thirds are arrested within three years, the city adopted a hiring policy to balance the nature and severity of the crime with other factors, such as the passage of time and evidence of rehabilitation.
San Francisco also considers factors such as the time elapsed since the conviction and evidence of rehabilitation.
Boston's job application starts with an anti-discrimination statement and lists "ex-offender status" as a classification protected under civil rights laws. The city only does criminal background checks for sensitive positions such as jobs with police, schools, and positions involving large amounts of money or unsupervised contact with children, the disabled and elderly.
Boston officials sent a letter in December requiring companies that do business with the city to comply with that policy.
"What are these folks going to do if they cannot work?" said Larry Mayes, chief of human services for Boston. "You're creating a permanent underclass."
In New Haven, the changes are part of a broader strategy to help convicts make successful transitions by offering them support with monthly assistance sessions and helping former inmates mentor each other.
But critics worry about the message being sent by the changes.
When the Norwich City Council adopted the policy in December, critics feared it would attract criminals.
Edward Jones, who owns a computer business, opposed the effort, though he said cities should make efforts to ensure everyone is fairly considered for jobs.
"I think they're doing a disservice because this person could end up being in a position of trust," Jones said.
Supporters point to a study in October by the Urban Institute that found former prisoners who had jobs and earned higher wages were less likely to return to prison.
When they are released, most inmates start out ambitious to change their lives, Tucker said. But after they are unable to find work, many grow frustrated, he said.
"You start to get desperate," Tucker said. "You go back to what you know." http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-jobs-convicts,0,1120325.story
09/01/05 The 2007-2008 legislative session brings slew of new laws
As lawmakers head back to the state Capitol to begin the 2009-2010 legislative session with their swearing-in tomorrow, a Harrisburg newspaper took a look at the legacy of the General Assembly's 2007-2008 session.
About 5 percent of the bills introduced, or 215 general laws, not counting budget-related acts, were enacted last year, reports the Jan Murphy of the Patriot-News.
Legislation was approved to toughen penalties for false reports of a stolen gun and shooting a gun at police, improve conditions in dog kennels, give a mother the right to breastfeed in public and invest $2.5 billion in road and bridge repairs.
Among those billls that failed to win passage was one designating Hazleton soil the official state soil and another giving polka the nod as the official state dance. Other legislative losers, according to the Patriot-News, were bills that would have required workers to get a 30-minute break after five hours of work, ban schools from starting before Labor Day and allow hunters to shoot woodchucks on Sundays.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/harrisburg_politics/37085109.html
09/01/05 Proposed assault riffle ban exempts antiques
TRENTON, N.J. - It's a gun ban George Washington could approve of , or at least the Revolutionary War re-enactor playing him each year.
That's because a proposed ban on large-caliber assault weapons in New Jersey also would legalize the type of guns commonly used by re-enactors.
Currently, a firearm popularly known as the Brown Bess and often used during battlefield scenes violates the state's gun possession laws.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora's bill would exempt antique and muzzleloading firearms that use a traditional flintlock or cap lock and rely on black powder.
Gusciora says that while antiques are fine, modern rifles with a caliber of .50 or larger serve no appropriate civilian use and should be illegal.
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/37097294.html
09/01/05 Guv asks stricter parole for repeat violence
Gov. Rendell yesterday asked the Legislature to end parole for repeat violent offenders and said the state would expand its supervision of such offenders who have already been paroled.
The request came a day after Rendell said he received the criminal history on a man who had been paroled three times before allegedly killing two people in the Philadelphia suburbs last year.
He also cited the deaths of two Philadelphia police officers killed in 2008, allegedly by parolees.
"These murders cry out for changes in how we sentence our violent repeat offenders who use deadly weapons," Rendell said. "This is a situation that simply has to change."
Under the governor's proposal, repeat violent offenders who use a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime would receive flat sentences without parole. Currently, sentences are given as a time span - for example, five to 10 years - and offenders are eligible for parole after serving the minimum amount.
Rendell is proposing that once offenders serve the flat sentence, they be given by the parole board five years of supervision. Violators could be sent back to prison.
Sherry Tate, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, said board members have been refining their criteria for release and are looking more closely at factors of violence and guns in making their decisions.
"Public safety is our mission," Tate said yesterday. "We have a pretty sound system. If the governor and the Legislature want to change the sentencing laws, then that is fine."
Parole works for nonviolent and less-violent offenders, Rendell said. He noted of the 31,000 people on parole in Pennsylvania in 2007, 95 percent did not commit another crime.
The state is evaluating the cases of repeat violent offenders on parole for less than five years to determine whether their supervision is adequate given their criminal histories.
Rendell also wants the parole board to place greater weight on convicts' offenses - as opposed to their time in prison - when making release decisions. Some violent offenders "game the system" by behaving and taking classes to be released early, Rendell said.
Tate said parole board members are receiving training to improve their assessment and interviewing skills.
Rendell temporarily halted the parole of state-prison inmates in September and ordered a review of the system after Philadelphia Officer Patrick McDonald was killed by paroled felon Daniel Giddings during a traffic stop. Giddings was then fatally shot by another officer.
Rendell lifted the moratorium after a consultant concluded that procedures for evaluating parolees were largely safe and effective.* http://www.philly.com/dailynews/national/37078694.html
09/01/04 N.J. fight on "straw" gun buys heats up
New Jersey could soon become the fourth state to limit handgun purchases to one a month, a move aimed at fighting "straw" gun buyers who purchase weapons legally and pass them to criminals.
The plan, backed by officials in Camden, Newark, Jersey City and other cities, follows calls from urban leaders across the nation, including Philadelphia, to crack down on gun trafficking that they say fuels violence.
There is much debate over whether such laws work, however, and opponents say a limit would infringe on a constitutional right in a state that already has rigorous screenings for gun buyers.
The proposal won approval in the Assembly but faces a tough final test in the more evenly divided Senate. Gov. Corzine, who sponsored a similar plan in the U.S. Senate, has said he will "absolutely" sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.
"How many guns does somebody need to purchase in a month?" Corzine asked.
Only California, Maryland and Virginia have one-gun-a-month restrictions. South Carolina had a similar law for nearly 30 years but repealed it in the face of criticism that it had proved ineffective.
Gov. Rendell called for a one-handgun-per-month measure in Pennsylvania, but it was blocked. Philadelphia approved its own version and saw it struck down in court.
In a December hearing, Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, said the New Jersey bill would not stop gun trafficking in the state but would be an impediment. Buyers would be restricted to one handgun purchase every 30 days - up to 13 a year because of timing quirks. He said the limits would not apply to other guns.
"What we're talking about here is some sort of balance . . . between the privilege of a tiny minority of handgun owners in the state and the common good of public safety," Miller said. "We're talking about a light burden, if any."
But some law-abiding citizens buy several guns at once to avoid repeated waits for background checks, gun-rights groups say. New Jersey already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control group. Pistol purchases can take weeks or even months, gun advocates say.
"This legislation makes it a crime to exercise a constitutional right to obtain handguns any more often than Big Brother dictates," said Scott Bach, president of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs.
New Jersey handgun buyers must obtain permits from local police and go through background checks, Bach said. That lets police know when multiple purchases are made, he said.
"It's overkill in the extreme, based on the false and unsupportable premise that criminals and their surrogates buy their crime guns from Jersey dealers after marching down to police headquarters to volunteer and submit themselves for fingerprinting, background checks and extensive personal disclosure," Bach said.
But that's exactly what gun-control advocates say happens. Fingerprints and personal records help only after a crime is committed, Miller said. Straw buys appear legitimate at first because criminals work with buyers who have clean records. Limiting such purchases, Miller said, could head off some crime.
He pointed to gun-tracing data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) showing that 28 percent of "crime guns" in New Jersey were first bought legally in the state, a sign, he said, that approved purchases can still lead to violence.
Most of the national criticism related to straw purchases centers on states with softer gun laws, such as Pennsylvania. There, the vast majority of 250 gun-trafficking arrests in the last two years were tied to straw buyers and the people who received the guns, said Al Toczydlowski, chief of the Philadelphia Gun Violence Task Force.
New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and the ATF have launched a stepped-up program that requires local police to share gun-tracing information with the state and federal agency. So far, its only case has resulted in charges in May against five men whose original purchases were in Pennsylvania and who therefore would be unaffected by the pending legislation. Most crime guns in New Jersey come from other states.
Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said New Jersey already had plenty of regulations.
"We get so many laws on the books now that we don't enforce, the fact that we continue to put more on doesn't make any sense," he said.
It is difficult to measure the impact of gun-buying laws in other states.
Virginia approved a one-gun-per-month limit in 1993. The Virginia State Crime Commission issued a report two years later saying the rule had not created an undue burden on gun buyers and had reduced the number of crime guns traced back to the commonwealth.
But advocates on both sides say the law has been watered down with exceptions since then. Gun-rights groups say that's because the law proved ineffective, while gun-control organizations argue that lawmakers bent to lobbyists.
In December, Mayors Against Illegal Guns - a national coalition of more than 300 municipal leaders, including Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter and Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison - ranked Virginia back near the top of states that are a source for crime guns.
In Maryland, police saw a drastic reduction in gun sales immediately after the state's limits went into effect in 1996. Yet a 2001 study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research found only a slight decline in gun violence.
California has had a buying limit since 2000, but police there say its impact is difficult to measure because the state has so many other firearms restrictions. The Brady Campaign ranked California's gun laws as the most stringent.
New Jersey is second, though its urban leaders say guns are still a problem.
In 2006, Jersey City passed an ordinance limiting gun buyers to one purchase per month, but it was struck down in state Superior Court.
The rule "arbitrarily and capriciously burdens the rights of individuals who have absolutely nothing to do with crime and violence," a judge wrote.
State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, a Democrat who represents part of Jersey City, hopes to move a statewide limit through the Legislature.
"The point of this is that we want to prevent [straw purchasers] from buying the guns in the beginning, and then we won't have to worry about them afterwards," she said in testimony last month.
Such talk makes Dale Kopas, a self-described sportsman from Gloucester County, wonder what restrictions could follow. In Trenton, after a committee voted last month to advance the limit, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and wondered: Would he someday be limited to one pack a month?
"I resent being put in the same category as gang-bangers," he said.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/37053659.html
09/01/04 Pittsburgh homicides jump 28% as other cities see declines
Nearly a week of 2008 passed before Pittsburgh saw its first homicide of the year.
Then, on Jan. 6, two people forced their way into an apartment in Elmore Square in the Hill District and 32-year-old Shawn Robinson was shot in the chest, trunk and abdomen. He died at the scene. No one has been arrested.
January turned into a month of tragic shootings. Jolesa Barber, 12, died in her sister's rowhouse on the North Side when 40 rounds of gunfire were sprayed at windows, doors and walls. Ernest Tolliver, 15, was killed by a gunman as he waited with his mother and younger sister at a Homewood KFC drive-thru lane.
By Dec. 31, the Pittsburgh Police Bureau had investigated 79 homicides for the year.
The number is unofficial and could fall to 73 when the bureau reclassifies some deaths as accidental or justifiable, including three police-involved shootings. But even the lower figure makes 2008 the city's bloodiest year since 1993, when there were 83 homicides. The number also represents a 28 percent increase from 2007, when the city recorded 57 homicides.
The bureau's clearance rate for homicides -- those where an arrest was made or a case was otherwise solved -- went down from 75 percent in 2007 to about 49 percent for 2008.
Allegheny County as a whole had 120 murders in 2008, up from 98. The record, 125, was set in 2003.
The increase comes as some major cities are seeing sharp drops in their homicide rates. Baltimore finished the year with its lowest number in two decades, while Cleveland had a 24 percent decrease.
Preliminary national crime statistics won't be released by the FBI until spring, but a review of unofficial figures from 25 of the 52 police departments in cities with a population of over 350,000 showed 15 of the 25 had fewer slayings last year than in '07, according to The Associated Press.
Homicides in New York, the nation's largest city, rose 5.2 percent, to 522 from 496 the year before, while murders in Los Angeles, the second largest city, dropped to 376 in 2008 from 400 the prior year.
Law enforcement officials in Pittsburgh, with a population of 311,000, don't have any simple explanations for the city's numbers.
"We had a wide range of homicides [in 2008]. We had quite a few robberies, robbery attempts. We had domestic incidents," Pittsburgh Assistant Police Chief Maurita Bryant said. "Some were just arguments that got out of hand."
Still, there are patterns: 65 of the city's murder victims were black, and 56 were black males. Five were under the age of 17. The average age was just over 28.
Out of the 79 homicide cases investigated by police, 64, or 81 percent, involved firearms.
"Our youth today can get a gun quicker than they can get a job or something to eat," said El Gray, program director for One Vision One Life, an Allegheny County anti-violence initiative based in the Hill District.
Mr. Gray lost his grandson, 19-year-old Raemon Gray, to a North Side shooting in November. A cousin, 23-year-old Alvin Smith, had been shot to death in Fineview just a few days before.
The total number of aggravated assaults in the city actually declined 9.6 percent from 2007 to 2008 -- meaning fewer but deadlier attacks.
The number of guns pulled from the streets was stable. Police recovered 551 firearms from January through the end of November, while 608 were recovered in all of 2007, according to Assistant Chief Bryant.
"If you're carrying one, you're more apt to use it," she said.
In some cases, successful police operations against drug rings may have changed the power dynamics on the streets.
In November, for instance, city police worked with federal authorities and the Allegheny County district attorney's office to make dozens of arrests in a smuggling network centered in Brookline, Mount Washington and Beltzhoover.
Assistant Chief Bryant didn't connect specific homicides to new turf battles, but, she said, "People might have to regroup and travel to other neighborhoods to get their drugs of choice."
Mr. Gray said he had heard about a drug "drought" in some neighborhoods.
Killings occurred all over the city in 2008, but only three areas saw double digits -- 12 in the Hill District, 12 in Homewood and 13 on the North Side, according to figures from the Allegheny County medical examiner's office.
Mount Washington saw four homicides, including the death of 15-year-old Raymond Reese, who was hit in the chest on June 15 during a drive-by shooting on Pasadena Street in Mount Washington. Two other teens were wounded.
Police said Raymond was an innocent bystander, as was Vincent Terry, a maintenance man who was caught in crossfire in an East Liberty parking lot in July, and Sandra Stewart, a 56-year-old grandmother who was hit in the head by a .40-caliber bullet in September as she sat on the porch of her sister's house on Curtin Avenue in Beltzhoover.
More typical is the case of Mr. Robinson, the city's first murder victim of 2008, who had a lengthy criminal record. In 1995, he pleaded guilty to charges of statutory rape, corruption of minors and indecent assault. He received a prison sentence of 15 months to seven years.
He then was arrested at least five times for a range of drug charges and, on one occasion, possession of a firearm. In December 2006, he was arrested for attempting to sell crack cocaine at the Addison Terrace apartments in Elmore Square.
According to a criminal complaint, Mr. Robinson told a police detective who caught him with the drugs that he was hoping to get money to see a movie.
He was killed on the same spot just over a year later.
Mr. Robinson's case remains unsolved, like the majority of 2008 murders in Pittsburgh.
Assistant Chief Bryant said the larger workload has contributed to a falling clearance rate for homicide investigations. Detectives from narcotics, robbery and other police units are taking 60-day assignments with the city's homicide squad to help with the case load.
"Our detectives are doing a pretty good job," Assistant Chief Bryant said.
Some investigators say their work is hampered when witnesses are reluctant to come forward with information. The situation may have worsened in recent years, since the emergence of a "snitch list" that circulated at the Allegheny County Jail. It named more than 100 people who had cooperated with authorities by reporting crimes, giving information on others, or testifying.
Local officials are trying to address the violence on several fronts. Following a string of shootings over the summer, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and city Councilman Ricky Burgess announced the creation of the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, which is modeled after a successful Boston program.
The program's architect, professor David Kennedy of the City University of New York, is crafting a plan to target the most violent mini-gangs in Pittsburgh. It's due mid-year.
More controversial is an effort to stem the flow of guns into the city.
In October, council members Doug Shields, William Peduto and Bruce Kraus introduced legislation requiring that gun owners whose firearms are lost or stolen promptly report that to the police or face penalties.
The mayor questioned the city's legal authority to enact such measures without changes at the state level. But the bill became law without his signature.
Mr. Kraus said the mayor should enforce the new gun provisions until the issue is settled in court or legislators in Harrisburg create new statewide reporting rules for lost or stolen guns.
"I think it was the best thing council did in [2008]," he said.
Mr. Gray said the city should focus on programs that keep young people off the streets. He said his organization is working with local employers, such as construction companies, to create apprenticeships.
"Doors of opportunity need to be opened," he said. "Idle time is the devil's workshop."
Pittsburgh's record year for homicides, 1993, followed the crack cocaine epidemic and intense gang rivalries. The murder number has since gone down and back up again, hitting a low of 32 in 1998 and then 68 in 2003.
"People search for reasons, but you can't always come up with them," said former police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr., who headed the bureau from 1996 until the end of 2005. "These things go in cycles."
He and his commanders held monthly meetings to go over crime statistics and discuss every homicide that occurred.
If a retaliatory strike seemed likely after a killing, police would try to prevent that strike, said Chief McNeilly, who now runs the Elizabeth Township police department.
"The city is doing the same thing we did when I was chief," he said. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09004/939487-53.stm
09/01/03 Sheriff limiting gun applications
Because of county personnel cuts, the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department will not accept gun permit applications for two weeks.
Sheriff Michael Savokinas sent out a press release Friday saying he needs to revamp the department since county officials announced staff cuts to help balance the budget.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience during this time of transition,” Savokinas said. His directive is in effect until Jan. 19.
A deputy and a civilian, both part-timers, oversaw the gun permit division in the department, accepting applications every week day until they were laid off. They were among 20 part-time employees and three full-time clerks in the sheriff’s office who lost their jobs during county layoffs that took effect Thursday.
Another full-time vacancy created by the retirement of a deputy will not be filled.
Savokinas said he is rotating a handful of deputies to cover bailiff duties at the courthouse – transporting prisoners and processing the gun permit applications.
“I had to completely retrain individuals to carry out these duties,” Savokinas said. “We have deputies now only handling courtroom functions, but also clerical.”
He called it a “bad decision” to lay off the part-time employees because his department will spend more on overtime costs to handle all their duties, Savokinas said.
Once applications are accepted again, Savokinas will limit the drop-off period from noon to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. There is a $31 permit application fee – $15 of which goes to Luzerne County and the remainder to the state police and sheriff’s deputy training commission. People can download an application from the county’s Web site, www.luzernecounty.org
Anyone who had previously applied for a permit and has been informed the permit is available may pick it up next week. Hours are 4-8 p.m. Monday through Friday on the second floor of the sheriff’s office, 200 N. River St.
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Sheriff_limiting_gun_applications_01-02-2009.html
09/01/03 Northampton County man who pointed shotgun at snowmobilers to get guns back, under plea deal
WASHINGTON TWP., Pa. | A Northampton County man who admitted pointing a shotgun at a 12-year-old boy and two men riding snowmobiles on his property will get his gun collection back after one year of probation.
Glenn Nehoda, 54, of Washington Township, Pa., previously said he was protecting his property when he aimed the gun at the boy on Feb. 22, 2008.
Nehoda, of the 1000 block of Jacktown Road, pleaded guilty Dec. 3 to possession of a weapon and recklessly endangerment.
He was sentenced to 12 months' probation, and seven other related charges were dropped, according to court records.
His collection of 32 guns will be kept under lock and key at a corporation owned by his brother and parents, according to a court order filed Friday.
The guns will not be available to Nehoda until after his probation ends, the order says.
The order included a 3-page list of the guns, which included several Glock, Beretta and Ruger pistols; Winchester, Tikka and Browning rifles; and a Remington 12-gauge shotgun.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1230959143221020.xml&coll=3
09/01/03 Permit-holding gun owners don’t threaten parks
Nobody could expect gun-control advocates to like rules that make it easier to carry concealed weapons. It's just not in their DNA.
But the reaction by some opponents of a U.S. Interior Department rule allowing concealed-weapons permit holders to carry in national parks is just out of touch with reality.
The Brady Campaign, which is suing to block the rule, said it would "jeopardize the safety of park visitors." Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote in a an Op-Ed that "park visitors expect a safe and enjoyable experience - not loaded guns and stray bullets."
Nobody wants to see shootouts over campsites at Manzanita Lake, but is there any evidence that permit holders are likely to engage in such dangerous activity? By definition, they're law-abiding citizens who've paid fees and subjected themselves to fingerprinting and background checks.
Shasta County is a gun-friendly place, where about 2,500 residents hold active concealed-weapon permits from the Sheriff's Department - a very high number, by California standards, for the size of the county. Even still, Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Friday that he couldn't recall a single gun-related crime by a permit holder in over 30 years. "We issue them to responsible people," he said.
The people to worry about are the ones who carry concealed weapons without a permit, whatever the law says. And frankly, park rangers don't search cars at the entrance stations. They don't stop and frisk backpackers. Compliance with the law is largely on the honor system. Parks are as safe as they are mainly because crooks don't like camping.
Hikers have little reason to pack a firearm in Lassen. And, heck, who wants the extra weight?
But if they're inclined to do so, amply vetted concealed weapons permit holders are the last people we need to fear.
Our view: The law-abiding folks with concealed-carry permits are not going to spark a crime wave at the campgrounds.
http://www.redding.com/news/2009/jan/03/permit-holding-gun-owners-dont-threaten-parks/
09/01/02 Seattle Homicide Stats Don’t Support Nickels Gun Ban Scheme, Says SAF
BELLEVUE, Wash. - (Business Wire) Homicide statistics for 2008 in Seattle do not justify a proposal by anti-gun Mayor Greg Nickels to ban legally-carried handguns from public property, nor his plan to lobby for a change in the state’s preemption law, the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation said today.
“Less than half of Seattle’s homicides in 2008 involved firearms,” noted SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, “and about one-third were gang-related. Yet Mayor Nickels would have the public believe there is a dire need to violate state statute and the civil rights of law-abiding gun owners, by challenging a state preemption statute that has stood for more than two decades as a model of efficiency and effectiveness that other states have copied.”
Gottlieb noted that Seattle’s 28 homicides pale in comparison to those logged in similar-sized cities, where concealed carry is forbidden. Milwaukee, WI reported 71 homicides in 2008, and Washington, D.C. posted 186 killings. Only in Seattle may citizens legally carry concealed handguns. In Baltimore, MD, where it is virtually impossible to get a carry license, there were 234 slayings last year.
“The figures from those other cities are staggering,” Gottlieb observed. “Yet in Seattle, where thousands of residents and thousands more visitors from all over the state, come and go legally armed, Nickels claims there is a public safety issue.
“Mayor Nickels is using one isolated non-fatal incident at last year’s Folklife Festival to push an agenda item for Washington CeaseFire,” he suggested. “Perhaps the mayor is trying to deflect public attention from his outrageous failures as a leader, from losing a professional basketball franchise to being unable to replace the aging Viaduct, and finally being forced to flip-flop on such a simple problem as snow removal.
“Nickels is firing blanks,” Gottlieb said. “He should channel his energy to disarming gangs and locking up their members, not harassing law-abiding citizens.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/seattle-homicide-stats-donrsquot-support-nickels-gun-ban-scheme-says-saf,667275.shtml
09/01/01 Fla. man charged after weapon find
Joshua Agosto Rosaly, 23, of Kissimmee, Fla., was a passenger Tuesday night in a vehicle in the 600 block of Itaska Street that police suspected might be involved in a domestic dispute. Instead, officers found Rosaly, who refused to obey an officer's commands, police said. When officers looked in the vehicle they saw a silver Walther PPK/S, .380 caliber pistol sticking out from under the passenger's seat, police said.
Rosaly was charged with carrying a firearm without a license. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $40,000 bail. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1230786308184490.xml&coll=3
08/12/31 Metal detector on hold while West Mifflin officials study law
Gun rights' activists challenge council's November vote
Plans to install a metal detector at the entrance to West Mifflin council chambers appear to be temporarily on hold while borough officials investigate the legality of such an action.
At its November meeting, council voted unanimously to authorize borough Manager Howard Bednar to purchase a metal detector and have it installed at one of the two entrances to council chambers to prevent members of the public from bringing a gun into the meetings.
Council members said no particular incident prompted the action, but rather that they were trying to be proactive with the measure.
But after an article on the metal detector ran in the Post-Gazette South on Dec. 11, gun rights advocates contacted West Mifflin officials and the Post-Gazette claiming that state law prohibits municipalities from creating their own gun control laws and that it would be illegal to stop an individual from carrying a legally registered gun into a council meeting.
"The law is pretty clear on this," said Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of OpenCarry.org.
Mr. Bednar said the concerns of the gun rights advocates have been forwarded to borough solicitor Mike Adams.
"Once he gets done reviewing it, we will proceed accordingly," Mr. Bednar said.
Though the manager originally hoped to have the metal detector purchased and ready for use at the Jan. 20 council meeting, no purchase would be made until the solicitor finishes his review.
After West Mifflin council approved the purchase and installation of the metal detector in November, Mr. Bednar made tentative plans for its use, which called for stationing it at one of the entrances to council chambers and blocking off the other entrance.
Those plans called for a borough police officer to operate the metal detector and to stop anyone from entering the council meeting with a gun.
Under the plan, people who were legally carrying guns would not be prohibited from attending the meeting, but they would required to leave their guns outside of the chambers.
Mr. Stollenwerk and Kim Stolfer, chairman of the legislative committee for the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League and chairman of the Firearms Owners Against Crime political action committee, said West Mifflin's plan is illegal and that the municipality will face a court challenge if it is enacted.
Under Pennsylvania law, those who hold a license to carry firearms are permitted to possess and transport them anywhere in the state except onto school property or courthouse facilities. A specific exemption in the state law prohibits counties and municipalities from regulating the possession, ownership or transportation of firearms, but not their discharge.
Mr. Stollenwerk and Mr. Stolfer pointed out that in Pennsylvania a permit is not necessary to openly carry a firearm. But since it is necessary to transport one, most gun owners must have permits to carry them.
"Unless you are going to walk everywhere you go, you will need a permit, Mr. Stolfer said.
Both men have sent e-mails to West Mifflin borough officials and Mr. Stolfer visited the borough building last week to inform that proposed use of the metal detector is illegal.
Mr. Stolfer said if council does not drop its plans to use the metal detector, he and others from his organization will likely attend the Jan. 20 council meeting to protest.
Peters council in Washington County faced a similar dispute last year when it enacted a ban on guns at most township-owned properties after a resident carried a handgun into a heated zoning hearing board meeting.
The ban was later lifted after angry residents and gun rights activists, including Mr. Stolfer, lobbied council saying the ordinance was unconstitutional and illegal.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08366/938673-55.stm
08/12/31 Man tries to fool cops by calling 911 during stop
SARASOTA, Fla. - Authorities said a Sarasota man about to be pulled over by police tried to lure officers away by making a fake 911 call. Officers said they were following a 28-year-old man's car Monday to make a traffic stop when they got a 911 call for an armed robbery happening several blocks away.
The man's plan seemed to work at first when the officers cut off their chase to answer the call. But then other officers in the area followed him into a parking lot and saw a gun in his car.
Officer's determined that the man was a felon and not allowed to possess a firearm. After the man was arrested, officers said they discovered that the bogus 911 call came from his cell phone.
He was being held on $11,490 bail for multiple charges.
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/features/36945189.html
08/12/31 D.A. Carroll urges citizens to overhaul Coatesville
The Chester County District Attorney sent a New Year's message yesterday to the citizens of Coatesville: Overhaul your government.
Joseph W. Carroll issued a four-page statement that outlined his "resolutions" for the county's crime capital, warning that the city has reached a "crisis point" and urging the replacement of the police chief and at least two City Council members.
"If Coatesville continues on its current path for another year or two, recovery during my lifetime will be improbable, if not impossible," Carroll wrote, promising for the next year to "put unprecedented emphasis on the City of Coatesville."
Ed Simpson, a City Council member who was reelected in 2008 to represent the city's first ward in the western section, said he had "no clue" that Carroll's release was coming but welcomed it.
Simpson said he has "absolutely" been frustrated by the council's failure to move decisively on the escalating crime rate in Coatesville.
"The city of Coatesville will never prosper until the streets are safe," he said.
Council president Karen Jorgenson could not be reached for comment.
Kareem Johnson, vice president and an at-large council member who is up for reelection, called Carroll's statement "unprecedented," but said he agreed with it.
"It's great to have him in the city as a taxpayer, and I respect him as a law enforcement officer," said Johnson.
For the last two years, Carroll, who worked at a Coatesville pizza shop and the YMCA in the 1970s, has focused on reducing crime in Coatesville, a city of about 12,000.
In July, he purchased half of a duplex in a drug-ridden neighborhood. Although he has not publicly discussed the rationale for the purchase, many residents said it reinforced his commitment to improving the city.
During a telephone interview yesterday, Carroll said he has been rehabbing the rundown, white-shingled home. He said he has received a warm reception from neighbors, who deserve better than a skyrocketing crime rate and a government with no remedies.
"Here's a reason to do this now: 2009 offers Coatesville voters a chance for a new beginning," Carroll said.
Four of the City Council's seven members are up for reelection in 2009: Johnson, Patsy Ray, Kurt Schenk, and Robin Scott. Those four usually vote together. Carroll didn't specify which of them he thought the voters should oust.
To illustrate Coatesville's lawlessness, Carroll said Phoenixville, a municipality comparable in size, had four robberies last year while Coatesville had 85.
In addition to ousting at least two council members, Carroll's statement lists other goals for Coatesville, which include having him spend at least 10 hours a week walking the streets, pressuring City Council to hire a police chief with Pennsylvania certification and command experience, installing a minimum of 10 surveillance cameras (the council has already authorized four, according to Simpson) and reducing the crime rate by at least 15 percent.
Carroll has criticized Police Chief William Matthews for failing to obtain police certification, which would authorize him to enforce the state crimes and vehicle code and carry a firearm.
Matthews, a former police administrator in Washington who was hired in May 2007, has said an undisclosed medical condition prevented him from receiving the training. He was on vacation and could not be reached for comment yesterday.
"Here's the big thing," Simpson said. "When you have a leader who is not certified or qualified to be a leader, it takes the morale of the entire force down. How can you ask your men to do something when you are not willing to do it yourself?"
Johnson, who voted to extend Matthews' contract, said constituents had complained about his lack of certification.
"Looking to the future when that position becomes available, we will definitely be going with someone certified," he said, declining to say that Matthews would be terminated.
Carroll said drug forfeiture money will fund many of the extra crime-fighting measures, and he hopes others will join him in volunteering their time - or simply turning on a porch light at night.
"The few violent criminals ruining Coatesville are no match for the rest of us," he wrote. "We must convince them of that by demonstrating that we are not afraid, that we are a united community, and that lawless behavior will not be tolerated."
Carroll said he wants input from residents, and he urged them to visit him at the house is renovating in Coatesville at 16 N. Eighth Ave. on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 6 and 9 p.m. or e-mail him at jcarroll@chesco.org.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/36920424.html
08/12/31 Abraham to warn against New Year's gunfire
The sounds of New Year's Eve: noisemakers tooting, champagne corks popping, revelers counting down as the ball drops.
And, unfortunately, weapons firing.
This morning, Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham plans to issue her annual vow to prosecute those who engage in celebratory gunfire.
Apparently, some people are not paying attention.
Between 10 p.m. last New Year's Eve and 6 a.m. the next morning, Philadelphia police received more than 240 reports of gunfire throughout the city, leading to 18 arrests on gun charges, Lt. Frank Vanore said.
Most of the 240 or so calls were not duplicates - that is, more than one person calling about the same gunshots.
"You're not firing a noisemaker," Vanore said. "It's a deadly weapon."
It is unknown how many of last year's reported gunshots were celebratory, but he said the sheer number suggests many were. On a typical winter night in the city, there are a handful of gunshot reports, maybe 20 in an entire weekend, he said.
At her news conference, Abraham is to be accompanied by Joe Jaskolka, 21, who was struck in the head in 1998 by a celebratory bullet as he walked along Fernon Street near Second Street in South Philadelphia. He has undergone more than 20 operations and now uses a wheelchair, according to the D.A.'s Office.
No shooter has been identified and, according to police, whoever it was could have been far away. Fired at a 30-degree angle at 1,120 feet per second, a bullet from a 9mm handgun can travel more than a mile, said Officer Peter Krimski, a city firearms examiner.
By the end of its trajectory, such a bullet will slow considerably due to air friction, but it's still traveling at several hundred feet per second - a potentially lethal velocity, said Michael Haag, a forensic-science consultant in New Mexico.
If a bullet is fired straight up in the air it will be traveling slower when it reaches the ground. But Haag said it's still a bad idea.
"When a bullet goes up, it's got to come down," Vanore agreed. "You're putting everybody at risk."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/36920389.html
08/12/31 D.A.: Officer justified in shooting bank robbery suspect
Cumberland County's district attorney has ruled a state police trooper was justified in fatally shooting a fleeing bank robber who led police on a 20-mile chase from York to Lemoyne in October.
District Attorney David Freed released a statement Tuesday defending the actions of Sgt. Charles Mory, a 25-year trooper with the state police who has served on the force's Special Emergency Response team for 22 years. Mory shot and killed Robert Lee, 44, of Harrisburg on Oct. 24 near the Interstate 83/Route 581 split in Cumberland County. The Jeep Cherokee Lee was driving then crashed in a copse of woods along I-83's Highland Park exit.
Lee's alleged accomplice, Shaun Damon McArthur, then fled the vehicle and changed shirts in the wooded area, police said. He was quickly arrested, but because of the shirt change police from three counties conducted a massive search of the area, fearing three men were involved, police said.
Police said Lee and McArthur, 36, of 1855 Park St. in Harrisburg, committed an armed, takeover-style bank robbery at the Peoples Bank, 1477 Carlisle Road, at 12:33 p.m. Oct. 24. The robbers ordered people to the floor at gunpoint, took a gun from a security guard doing business at the bank, and pointed their guns at tellers, police said.
Highway shootout: The alleged robbers then fled from pursuing officers after a York City patrolman spotted their Jeep on Route 30. During the chase, the people in the Jeep exchanged gunfire numerous times with the officers chasing them north on Interstate 83; no officers were shot, police said.
The chase, which exceeded speeds of 100 mph, ended when Lee was fatally shot and the Jeep crashed, police said.
Freed said Mory used his unmarked police vehicle -- with red lights flashing -- and two passing tractor-trailers to create a roadblock and force Lee to move onto the left berm at the I-83/581 split, where it was hoped the vehicle could be stopped.
But as the Jeep reached the roadblock, Lee steered directly toward Mory and someone in the Jeep fired a shot at the trooper, Freed said. At that point, Mory fired five shots from his MP5 submachine gun, killing Lee, Freed said.
Won't 'stand by': Freed said use of deadly force by police "should always be questioned."
"However, we will not ... stand by and watch other citizens be endangered by these actions," he wrote. "The easiest thing to do would be to cut off any pursuit when an element of danger arises. But that is not the right thing to do."
McArthur remains in York County Prison on $125,000 bail, awaiting trial on 52 charges, including conspiracy to commit homicide, aggravated assault and robbery.
http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/search/ci_11343110?IADID=Search-yorkdispatch.inyork.com-yorkdispatch.inyork.com
08/12/30 2008 IN REVIEW: YEAR OF THE GUN
Both sides say they won with gun laws
For the first time in 10 years, a gun-control bill reached a vote in the state Legislature.
For the first time in two decades, the city passed local gun legislation hoping, they said, to control the trafficking of illegal guns.
But as 2008 was clearly a monumental year in the perpetual debate over guns and their regulation in Pennsylvania, perhaps the biggest decision in the fight between gun rights and gun-control advocates came from the U.S. Supreme Court over the summer. The court ruled that Washington D.C.’s 32-year ban on handguns was unconstitutional.
“That was a great day for people who care about all of our constitutional rights,” said attorney Scott Shields, who represents the National Rifle Association in pending litigation against Philadelphia’s local gun laws.
Shields, who also represents the state General Assembly in an ongoing case against two city Councilmen over whether Philadelphia has the right to supersede state law, said 2008 truly was one of the most important years in memory.
CeaseFirePA executive director Joe Grace had a similar take, though he cited his group’s growing influence in state politics and four cities’ new local gun laws as the reason for excitement.
“We really needed to show and I think we did, in out first foray into politics, that we can and will make a difference,” Grace said. “We didn’t knock out any incumbents yet, but we plan to keep on trying at that.”
Still, Shields said the past year showed how some politicians will do whatever they can to get what they want, even if it means skirting well-established precedents.
http://philly.metro.us/metro/local/article/2008_IN8200REVIEW_YEAR8200OF8200THE_GUN/14674.html
08/12/31 Moore Township man charged with assaulting wife is allowed to reunite with her
EASTON | A Moore Township man who stood naked in his living room and ordered his wife by gunpoint to have sex with him is allowed to reunite with her.
Gregory Knouss was previously charged with aggravated assault and related charges for the Oct. 3 incident and ordered to have no contact with his wife. That order was lifted, according to a bail modification filed Tuesday at the Northampton County Courthouse.
Knouss is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition, consuming alcoholic beverages and entering any establishment that serves alcohol as its primary function. He must also attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and submit to other psychological evaluations, according to documents.
Knouss confronted his wife when she came to their home in the 400 block of South Hokendauqua Drive, police said.
She ran from the home and sought refuge at a neighbor's house, where she called police, court records said. Gregory Knouss did not follow his wife out of the house because he was naked, police said.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1230699932117770.xml&coll=3
08/12/30 Group sues to reinstate firearms ban
WASHINGTON - The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sued the Bush administration Tuesday in hopes of stopping a new policy that would allow people to carry concealed, loaded guns in most national parks and wildlife refuges.
"The Bush administration's last-minute gift to the gun lobby, allowing concealed semiautomatic weapons in national parks, jeopardizes the safety of park visitors in violation of federal law," said Paul Helmke, the group's president. "We should not be making it easier for dangerous people to carry concealed firearms in our parks."
An Interior Department spokeswoman refused to comment on the lawsuit, saying the department does not discuss pending litigation.
The Brady Campaign sued the Interior Department and its secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, as well as the leaders of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service in U.S. District Court. They want a federal judge to issue an immediate injunction stopping the elimination of the 25-year-old federal rule that severely restricts loaded guns in national parks.
The Interior Department rule overturns a Reagan-era regulation that has restricted loaded guns in parks and wildlife refuges. The previous regulation required that firearms be unloaded and placed somewhere that is not easily accessible, such as in a car trunk.
But under a rule to take effect in January, visitors will be able to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge , but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows concealed firearms.
The rules change would take effect before President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. Overturning the rule would take months or even years if the Obama administration wanted to, since it would require the new administration to restart the lengthy rule-making process.
The lawsuit said members of the Brady Campaign will no longer visit national parks and refuges "out of fear for their personal safety from those who will now be permitted to carry loaded and concealed weapons in such areas."
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/washington/36883739.html
08/12/30 Pa. courts consider statewide constable standards
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania's chief justice said Tuesday that he is considering whether to impose uniform standards to improve the state's troubled constable system.
Chief Justice Ronald Castille told The Associated Press that he has directed the court's Minor Court Rules Committee to study a handbook for constables currently used in Chester County to see if it can be adopted statewide.
"That's something we're looking into without having to go through legislation, or constitutional amendments or anything of that nature," Castille said.
Pennsylvania has about 1,200 active constables , fully trained and insured , who serve legal papers, transport prisoners and perform other duties for magisterial district courts.
Shortcomings in their training and oversight were identified in a two-part series by The Associated Press in July that described dozens of cases of serious misconduct by constables over the past decade.
Chester County is one of the few Pennsylvania counties that maintains a handbook for constables.
Castille distributed the county's guidelines within the past week. If the committee's report is favorable and it is adopted, the president judges of each county could end up having to enforce it.
"If we were to do the statewide handbook, they would still be independent contractors but the president judge would be able to discipline them," said Castille. He said the court would also seek input from the constables, trial judges and district judges before adopting a new system.
"I'm sure a lot of (the constables) wouldn't mind, and they're probably complying already," Castille said.
In another indication that changes may be ahead, a key state lawmaker met last week with officers of the state constables' association about his strategy for pursuing reform.
Rep. Tom Caltagirone, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the "first round in probably a 10-round fight" will be to collect in a single code the elements of various state laws that deal with constables.
"The next step really would be to meet with somebody from the Supreme Court , preferably the chief justice , to see if they would consider taking them under their wing and allow the president judges from each county to be responsible for them," said Caltagirone, D-Berks.
Castille said he was amenable to such a meeting.
The "third leg," Caltagirone said, could involve mandated improvements to constables' education, training and equipment.
At least four counties , Chester, Crawford, Berks and Westmoreland , have issued constable rules. But most constables are independently elected, and a 1991 state Supreme Court decision declared them part of the executive branch, not the judicial.
A 1999 administrative order by the Crawford County president judge requires constables to wear uniforms, display photo identification, pass criminal background and child-abuse history checks and maintain a phone with an answering machine.
Other potential areas for constable rules include a mandatory retirement age, psychological testing and physical fitness.
Many constables currently are allowed to transport prisoners without a caged vehicle and are not required to have two people handling women prisoners or prisoners taken from a jail.
The AP series found cases over the past decade in which constables have molested children, had sex with prisoners, violated federal weapons laws and even shot and killed people.
State law allows for removal of constables by county president judges under certain circumstances, but the procedure is rarely used.
Tom Impink, a Berks County constable who became president of the state constables' association earlier this month, said Tuesday the AP stories convinced many of the state's constables the system needed to be improved.
"That gave them the proverbial swift kick in the pants," he said. "I think they finally realized , the guys out there , that there are problems."
Impink and association executive director Emil Minnar, who also met with Caltagirone, both said there is wide support for codification and expanded court supervision.
"If anything, the creation of a system of that nature would flush out those that seem to feel they don't have to abide by the law or that they should even pursue activities that are not those of a constable," Minnar said.
But they said members worry about mandated equipment upgrades, particularly if they are imposed across the state instead of county-by-county.
"'You have to have an approved cage in your car.' What is an 'approved cage,' who says it's approved, and who examines it?" Impink said.
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20081230_ap_pacourtsconsiderstatewideconstablestandards.html
08/12/30 Grinches terrorize couple, steal presents
NEW YORK -- Prosecutors say two real-life Grinches posed as police officers and robbed a couple's home of their holiday presents on Christmas Eve.
The men wore bulletproof vests bearing the New York Police Department logo and claimed to have a warrant, the Queens district attorney's office said. They tied up Robert Kapovic and his wife and ransacked their home for nearly four hours, prosecutors said.
"They acted like the Grinch in the Dr. Seuss classic 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'" District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Monday in a statement. "Unfortunately for them, their plan was foiled when real police officers stopped them and the victims' belongings were returned in time for the holiday."
Kapovic was pistol-whipped, and his wife was pushed around and threatened with the prospect of never seeing her children again, prosecutors said.
The youngsters -- ages 7, 3, 2 and 1 -- apparently slept through the robbery, even as the attackers rifled through their bedrooms and took $4,000 cash, diamond jewelry, electronics and liquor from throughout the house, they said.
When the men left in the early hours of Dec. 24, the couple freed themselves, and Kapovic followed them in his car, using his onboard global positioning system to lead police to them, prosecutors said.
Authorities said they recovered the stolen property, police paraphernalia and two pellet guns.
Constantino Christo and Nicholas Papaleo pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on charges including burglary, robbery, assault, criminal impersonation and endangering the welfare of a child.
Papaleo, 33, was held without bail, and Christo, 43, was ordered held on $1 million bail.
The Brooklyn residents could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/search/ci_11335443?IADID=Search-yorkdispatch.inyork.com-yorkdispatch.inyork.com
08/12/29 POLICE FATALITIES FOR ’08 PROVE CCW LAWS NO THREAT TO COPS, SAYS CCRKBA
BELLEVUE, WA – Another bogus argument of gun control extremists – that sensible concealed carry laws create an increased threat to police officers – has been refuted by statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and published by USA Today.
The number of officer fatalities due to gunfire is the lowest in 50 years, noted Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. A report out Monday said that this year, 41 officers have died from gunshot wounds, down 40 percent from the 68 who died by gunfire in 2007. Yet the number of concealed carry permits issued by the states has risen, dramatically in some areas, in the past 12 months.
“Better training and equipment have contributed to this decline,” Gottlieb stated, “but it must be noted for the record that growing numbers of legally-armed citizens have not resulted in more police slayings. That has been one of the many lame arguments offered by gun control fanatics over the past few years when they fought against expanded concealed carry rights.
“The death of one police officer is a tragedy,” he continued, “but common sense right-to-carry statutes have no relation to the criminal slayings of police officers, and anti-gun rights extremists know it.”
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reports that more officers have died in traffic-related incidents than in shootings, same as last year, Gottlieb noted.
“There are, today, more legally-armed citizens than ever before,” he commented, “and more privately-owned firearms than ten or even five years ago. More Americans own semiautomatic sport-utility rifles, growing numbers of women own guns for personal protection and more citizens are involved in shooting sports.
“None of these law-abiding citizens pose any threat to public safety, and especially to the safety of our local police,” Gottlieb concluded. “We expect the new Congress, and state legislatures around the country, to keep this in perspective as the gun ban lobby mounts new attacks on firearm civil rights in 2009
http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/press-releases/2008.police.deaths.htm
08/12/29 Training class attendance increases with gun sales
Some gun owners may soon find they have to wait in line at their favorite target-shooting range. It didn't used to be that way.
Shooters Pistol Range in New Milford has as many as 16 people a week taking handgun permit classes, which are usually just one session. Demand for First Shoots, its free one-day class for novice handgun users, has also increased. The shooting range plans to add sessions of both.
"I would say it's probably about 50 percent of the people who come in who are worried their rights to own guns will change with the new administration and are buying handguns and taking classes right now," said range owner Leo Jette Jr.
At Forest & Field Outdoor Specialties, a Norwalk-based gun store and shooting range, demand for training from both novices and experienced gun owners is so great "classes are now completely booked for the rest of December, way into January and beyond," says Scott Moss, a lifelong outdoorsman and competitive shooter.
"So I've added classes and am booking (far ahead)," Moss said. "I've never seen anything like this before."
Call it the Obama effect -- a huge uptick in gun sales and interest in gun ownership.
Stoked by the president-elect's legislative history, public remarks, and commercials paid for by the Republican National Committee and the National Rifle Association now enjoying a second life on YouTube, hundreds of thousands of Americans are rushing to obtain pistol permits and buy handguns because they fear the Obama administration will tighten gun laws or hike federal excise taxes, restricting who is eligible to own a handgun or making the cost of ownership so steep that few can afford it.
Joe Dzubak, of the Ramapoo Pistol Club in Ridgefield, has recently heard people taking the club's NRA handgun carry permit course talk about buying their guns before "Obama takes it all away from us."
"One man told me he wants to carry his pistol now because of the economic downturn," Dzubak said. "He's concerned about his safety on the streets. He said he was sending his wife down for a permit and was buying her a handgun now before the new administration comes in in January."
The FBI's National Criminal Justice Information Service Division, which conducts background checks for handgun sales, tracked more than 374,000 requests for checks between Nov. 3 to 9, the week of Election Day, a 49 percent increase over the same one-week period in 2007.
"Even before the election, and especially after the election, sales were up," Moss says. "They remain that way. Clearly, it's because of people's fears about Obama imposing a 500 percent increase on federal excise taxes on guns, raising taxes on them the same way lawmakers raised taxes on cigarettes."
The National Rifle Association's Web site refers to a 1999 article in the weekly newspaper Chicago Defender in which it claims Obama called for a 500 percent excise tax to discourage handgun ownership.
"A huge tax hit like that will make it extremely expensive for the ordinary, honest law-abiding person to afford to own a gun," Moss says. "Consequently, a lot of people coming through here and at other gun stores are rushing to get their pistol permits and purchase firearms before that happens."
Tom Whitcomb, owner of Housatonic Valley Firearms in New Milford, said he saw a "spike" in sales of all models of guns, from riffles to handguns, right after the election.
"For the first two weeks after the elections, sales were spiking," he said. "I don't know if it was all about the election. There were a lot of first-time buyers purchasing guns for protection in their homes with the turn in the economy."
But Whitcomb said he has seen guns sales drop back to normal levels since then. He has owned the gun shop for seven years.
State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance acknowledged Connecticut sales climbed 38 percent between November 2007 and November 2008, from 6,486 to 9,144 handguns.
"That is a major increase, and we're not sure exactly why that is," Vance said. "There's been some question if politics or concerns about new (gun) laws are behind it."
What is unclear from the statistics is whether they are from first-time gun purchasers or people who own more than one firearm.
But concern about potential changes in federal law is not the only reason would-be gun owners are bombarding firearms dealers. It's also the economy, Moss and Jette said.
Jette said about 10 percent of the people coming in for handgun permits in New Milford are women who have expressed concern about home invasions and the bad economy.
He attributes part of the increase to new interest in the sport itself, because of stories about gun ownership in the media.
"I think all the talk about firearms has peaked people's interests," Jette said. "I see a lot of couples and families coming in for lessons and permit classes."
Dzubak said the Ramapoo Pistol Club has a nine-person limit for its monthly handgun carrying permit classes. Its seesions for January and February are already filled, and other people have signed up for March.
Jette and his main instructor, Herb Furman, want to ensure that everyone who comes in for a permit class is carefully trained in gun use and safety.
"Herb doesn't sign off on a permit until he feels confident of the ability of the man or woman he's trained," Jette said. "He'll tell them they have to come back for more training, until he's sure they understand the responsible use of a handgun."
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_11330692
08/12/29 Detective finds stolen gun in toilet by accident
JENSEN BEACH, Fla. - Authorities said a stolen gun was recovered when a detective tried to used the suspect's bathroom and couldn't get the toilet to work. A detective investigating the theft of a handgun, jewelry and cash from a Jensen Beach home was told a possible suspect might be staying at a Port St. Lucie hotel.
The detective met with a 21-year-old suspect and during an interview, the detective asked to use the man's bathroom.
When the detective couldn't get the toilet to flush, he took off the tank cover to see what the problem was. That's when he found the handgun and three magazines with bullets.
The man was charged last Monday with grand theft and grand theft of a firearm.
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/features/36839334.html
08/12/29 Gun restrictions dropped in York County parks
New rules put in place last week will allow people to carry guns in York County parks even when they aren't hunting.
For years the county has prohibited people from carrying guns in the county parks unless they're hunting in one of the three where the sport is allowed.
The county commissioners Wednesday approved new rules that reverse that stance and allow people to carry guns, concealed or not, at any time in the parks as long as the owner and gun are licensed and registered pursuant to state law.
The new rule was developed after questions were raised about whether the county's previous ban would hold up in court, said Tom Brant, executive director of the parks system. The change puts the system in line with state law and other Pennsylvania parks.
"If the people want their protection, as long as they have the permits, I don't have any problem with it," said President Commissioner Steve Chronister. "There are some people that go for walks in the parks, you think you are going to be safe, but you're not safe anywhere."
Discouraged: Brant said county park rangers will try to discourage people from openly carrying guns, a practice that created some controversy earlier this year in Lebanon County. It was one of the reasons the county began to re-examine its ban on guns in parks.
In that case, the county sheriff revoked Meleanie Hain's concealed weapons permit for openly carrying a handgun to her daughter's soccer game. A county judge later reversed the decision.
Brant said he's hoping people won't openly carry guns because of the fright it can cause.
We hope "that people demonstrate courtesy of other users, (and) not alarm other people in our activities here on park property," Brant said.
York County Commissioner Doug Hoke said he supported the change because he was advised it was the correct approach under current state statute.
"Whatever the law is and the courts decide is the fair way to treat this," he said.
The easing of gun restrictions was part of a rewrite of the county's park rules, he said. They were last overhauled in 1971, although they've been periodically amended.
http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/search/ci_11329560?IADID=Search-yorkdispatch.inyork.com-yorkdispatch.inyork.com
08/12/28 Robbery suspect tangles with Elvis
The lesson here is, don’t mess with The King.
Or at least don’t mess with Elvis Smith.
Around 5:30 p.m. today, Smith, 49, and his two brothers were cleaning up a lot in North Memphis when a man approached them with a gun.
“He tried to rob them and one of the gentlemen had a handgun on him,” Memphis police Lt. Jerry Gwyn said. “He exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The suspect lost the gun battle.”
The suspect was hit in the chest and leg but is expected to live. An investigation is under way, but Gwyn said it’s unlikely Smith will face any charges.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/dec/28/elvis-1-robber-0-north-memphis-shootout/
08/12/28 Firearms Prohibitionists Take Their Meddling to People’s Living Rooms
A week before Minnesota’s firearm deer season I visited my 86-year-old father. He regaled me with an entertaining stream of tales from his 70 years as a deer hunter in the north woods. He lamented his failing eyesight and then rose from his ancient recliner and went to the closet where he keeps his guns. He took out a battered old case and handed it me. “I want you to have this.”
I knew what was inside. A Savage model 219 single-shot 30-30 rifle. My father bought it in 1944 for $12. It’s well worn after more than 60 years of hard use. It was an honor to be given such an heirloom. Over the past few years my father has passed on most of his modest collection of firearms to his children and grandchildren. It is his way of passing on our family’s heritage.
However, if some people had their way, my father would be a felon the next time he passed on a firearm to a family member. These people complain about a so-called “gun show loophole,” which, if you were to accept the rhetoric of firearm prohibitionists, is responsible for an endless stream of death and carnage.
In truth, attempts to close the “loophole” are really attacks on cherished freedoms that have been quietly enjoyed by millions of Americans since the founding of our nation. With the exception of those unfortunate residents of a few nanny-states, citizens of the U.S. always have been able to gift, buy, sell and trade firearms without the interference of government.
But if people like Duluth’s Joan Peterson, a member of the national board of trustees of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (and the author of the Dec. 9 Local View commentary, “ ‘Gun show loophole,’ still open in Minnesota”, must be closed”) are able to enact their legislative agenda, this liberty will be extinguished. The sad part is that if they are successful, crime rates would be unaffected. It is well established that only a tiny fraction of guns used to commit crimes come from gun shows. But that doesn’t stop the prohibitionists from scaring people with exaggerated stories.
Peterson wrote that we need to pass a law to “require unlicensed sellers to perform background checks on buyers at gun shows and other venues.” What she didn’t write was that these “other venues” include my father’s living room. The proposed legislation requires a background check for every private firearm bought, sold or gifted. So when Peterson claimed the proposed law “wouldn’t change anything for law-abiding citizens,” she was simply wrong.
Another thing firearm prohibitionists won’t tell you is that in order for a universal background check system to be effective, every gun would need to be registered with the government.
There are those who would take offense at my use of the term “prohibitionist” to describe members of groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Northland Million Moms, but actions speak louder than words. While speaking of “reasonable gun laws,” they advocate a program of incremental prohibition of private firearm ownership.
Our nation already has more than 20,000 laws relating to firearms, and 99 percent of them are an affront to liberty. As new laws are introduced in response to Brady Campaign scare tactics, I am reminded of the words of Ben Franklin: “They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.”
I’ve got news for the prohibitionists of the world. My father won’t give up his freedom to pass on his legacy without government interference — and neither will I, nor will my family, nor my friends. Nor will millions of other freedom-loving citizens. The passage of a new set of gun-control laws would simply create a new class of felons out of formerly law-abiding citizens.
And that may have a set of unintended consequences all its own.
RUSS STEWART of Duluth served two terms on the City Council and is a professor at Lake Superior College.
https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=36&article_id=108236&CFID=8099152&CFTOKEN=22215178
08/12/28 Official seeks anti-gun team
Councilman wants to keep task force's recommendations alive
ALBANY — The Common Council is being asked to create a team to help implement the recommendations of the Gun Violence Task Force.
With the task force's work just completed, Council member Dominick Calsolaro does not want their recommendations to get lost. Among other steps, the task force recommended the city hire a full-time violence prevention coordinator; start a crisis team to respond to shootings to prevent further violence; and create a team of former gang members and inmates who would work in troubled neighborhoods to steer youths from violence.
"We need to have an official group set up to follow these things through," the First Ward council member said.
Calsolaro originally proposed the gun violence task force, and he now wants a seven-member Gun Violence Prevention Implementation Team to make sure their recommendations become reality. One member would be appointed each by the Albany County district attorney, the city police department and the Albany city school district. The other four members would be named by the council.
Calsolaro's proposal, which will be introduced at the January 5 council meeting, does not call for Mayor Jerry Jennings to make any of the appointments.
"I contacted the mayor's office three weeks ago to see if he wanted to have a joint proposal, and I never heard back," Calsolaro said.
He decided he'd place the legislation on the Jan. 5 agenda, and the mayor could still seek to give his input on the idea. It took Calsolaro two years to get the mayor to agree to form the task force in the first place.
The Rev. Edward Smart, the vice chairman of the task force, said it is important their work gets implemented. Jennings has assured him he supports the recommendations and will work to get them done, he said.
"We would want to make certain the people of Albany are served well and after a year's work, that all the ideas we brought to the Common Council would be brought to fruition," said Smart, pastor of Albany's AME Zion Church. "We don't believe the work of the Gun Violence Task Force should just go by the wayside. Most of us are committed to seeing that doesn't happen anyway."
The city's residents must insist the steps are taken, Smart said.
"It depends on the people who live in Albany," he said. "When we decide we are not going to put up with guns and violence in the street, changes are going to happen."
The task force had 13 members, with Jennings naming six and the council seven.
"I thought the 13 members of the task force ended up being too many," Calsolaro said.
Under the proposed legislation, the implementation team members would be volunteers and would have to live in the city of Albany. The members could not spend any city funds unless approved by the council. The body could call for public hearings, seek testimony or request documents.
Calsolaro said an ad hoc group of local leaders has been meeting with officials from the University at Albany's School of Public Health to discuss issues of crime and poverty. They have talked about implementing a program similar to Chicago's Ceasefire program, which uses former gang members and inmates to work the streets to deter crime.
But Calsolaro said a formal process is needed to make sure the task force's recommendations are implemented. "I don't want to see what they did over the year go to waste," he said.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=754515&category=REGION
08/12/26 WVa hunters don’t let economic downturn bag season
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s hunters might fret about the number of deer, the timing of the turkey season or the length of the grouse season, but they apparently don’t worry about the economy.
Not even a budding nationwide recession could keep Mountain State sportsmen out of the woods this year. At a time when most retailers were hurting, purveyors of outdoor-related goods reported record sales.
“Our numbers this year were great,” said David Welch, manager of Charleston’s Gander Mountain store. “In fact, they were better this year than last year.”
The upward trend further cemented the Charleston store’s status as one of the nationwide chain’s most successful outlets. Welch did, however, notice a change in the way shoppers spent their money.
“They didn’t buy a lot of big-ticket items this year. Instead of buying guns and ATVs, they bought clothing and accessories. Our field wear sales went up 96 percent. We also got a boost in sales of game processing materials — meat cutting equipment, grinders, smokers and stuff like that. Apparently people decided to process their own deer instead of paying someone $50 or so to do it,” he said.
Curtis Taylor, wildlife chief for the state Division of Natural Resources, believes sportsmen cope with a bad economy by scrimping on some areas of discretionary spending to have enough money for their favorite pastimes.
“West Virginians will spend money to go hunting and fishing,” Taylor said. “They might give up other pursuits. They may have to hunt a little closer to home. But in the end, they still go.”
When gasoline prices spiked at more than $4 a gallon earlier this year, DNR officials surveyed hunters to see if fuel costs might affect hunting.
“People said they’d go hunting regardless of the price,” Taylor said.
Dan Kessel probably wishes he’d known that. It might have saved him some worry. Kessel, managing partner of Spring Hill Rod & Gun in South Charleston, also runs a hunting-guide service in Wyoming.
“I figured when gas prices went up so high that people would start canceling their trips,” he said. “I was kind of surprised when no one did.”
Kessel got another pleasant surprise in November when shoppers set new sales records at his store.
“I don’t think the economy is affecting hunting as much as it’s affecting day-to-day expenditures,” he said. “People are telling me they didn’t take trips to the beach this year; that they took their vacations in West Virginia and saved their money so they could maybe buy a new gun and go hunting.”
The economic downturn didn’t affect Dave Bradshaw of Cross Lanes. “I still have a job,” he said. “I still go hunting in the same places, and I still buy the things I need to hunt. I feel for the people who have lost their jobs, but so far it hasn’t affected me any.”
Brandon Blake of Summersville is taking a more cautious approach.
“I’ve definitely tried to hold back on buying big-ticket items,” Blake said. “I’m still buying things like ammo and clothing, though; maybe not as much as usual, but I’m still buying. And I saved some money so I could spend a week bowhunting in Logan County.”
Jamie Linville of Alkol didn’t let the economy keep him from hunting, but he did let it affect his equipment purchases.
“I usually buy a gun every year, but I had to put it off this time,” Linville said. “I’m also buying less ammo than usual.”
Welch said hunters’ spending habits clearly demonstrate the priority they place on their chosen pastime.
“They have a real passion for the outdoors around here,” said Welch. “This might be a depressed area, but people make use of the money they have by being very knowledgeable about the products they buy.”
The DNR’s Taylor believes hardworking West Virginians will always need some form of recreation.
“Hunting and fishing are some of the cheapest activities you can engage in,” he said. “For what it would take to travel to one West Virginia University football game, a fellow can hunt for practically a whole year. That, if for no other reason, is why hunting is the closest thing to a recession-proof activity we have in this state.” http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x1671882744/WVa-hunters-don-t-let-economic-downturn-bag-season
08/12/26 Federal indictment filed case of stolen guns
A Lebanon County man has been federally indicted for conspiring with two juveniles to steal about 84 firearms from a Lebanon County gun dealer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Cyle Manmiller, 20, of Richland, is charged with conspiring to possess firearms in relation to a crime of violence, possessing firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence, burglary of a federally licensed firearms dealer, possessing stolen firearms and transferring firearms to a juvenile.
The "crime of violence" charges are based on Manmiller's alleged possession of a loaded firearm while committing the burglary, according to Christy Fawcett, the U.S. assistant attorney prosecuting the case.
She said at this point, authorities don't know what Manmiller and the juveniles allegedly intended to do with the cache of weapons.
If convicted, Manmiller could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson.
According to the indictment, Manmiller and another person tried to burglarize Enck's Gun Barn in Lebanon County on Nov. 30, but were unsuccessful.
The background: On Dec. 1, Manmiller and others burglarized Richland Shooters Supply in Lebanon County, stealing about 84 firearms and "numerous" rounds of ammunition, the indictment states.
About 41 firearms have been recovered, Fawcett said.
The two 17-year-old boys allegedly involved are being prosecuted by the Lebanon County District Attorney's Office, she said, and authorities continue to investigate whether others were involved.
Fawcett said the indictment alleges that the offenses occurred in Lebanon and York counties because authorities have evidence that one of Manmiller's alleged accomplices tried to dump the guns in the Susquehanna River.
Caught in Hellam: Hellam Township Police captured one of the 17-year-old boys on Dec. 5 as he was preparing to dump the guns into the river, according to township Police Chief Blaine Quickel.
Based on an alert they received that the teen was headed to a specific location in Hellam Township, police set up surveillance there and in about 10 minutes, the teen showed up with about 50 stolen weapons in the back of a pickup truck, the chief said.
"He knew that his accomplices had been 'made,' and I guess he figured if he got rid of the firearms, police couldn't pin the burglary on him," Quickel said. "He apparently knows the Hellam Township area."
Every firearm in the pickup truck was loaded, the chief said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is heading up the investigation.
http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/search/ci_11313734?IADID=Search-yorkdispatch.inyork.com-yorkdispatch.inyork.com
08/12/23 Pittsburgh's mayor hasn't helped in gun bill push
Letters to the editor
Iwas very pleased by Pittsburgh City Council's passage of a bill that requires handgun owners to let police know when they find out their guns have been lost or stolen ("Mayor Allows Gun Measure Into Law Without Signing It," Dec. 17).
But I was distressed not only by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's failure to sign the bill but, most importantly, by what he said in his statement.
To quote the mayor, "I will continue to lobby our friends and representatives in the state government to enact meaningful statewide regulations that would require the reporting of a lost or stolen firearm. I invite you to join me in this. It is my great hope that the General Assembly will take up this issue and enact such statewide legislation to give, not just the citizens of Pittsburgh, but all Pennsylvania citizens protection from this serious problem."
It is important for your readers to know that the mayor has been missing in action on this issue in Harrisburg over the past two years. He has failed to attend meetings or rallies, not only with advocates like CeaseFirePA and victims, but with his fellow mayors from around the commonwealth who have been working hard to encourage the Legislature to enact common sense laws to protect their communities and residents.
With the homicide rate in Pittsburgh nearing an all-time high, one would think that the city's chief executive would be working aggressively with the other mayors on this issue. But he has not.
Let's hope that he will now put his actions where his mouth is. He owes it not only to the people of Pittsburgh but also to his own law enforcement officials who supported the local bill and put their lives on the line every day.
PHIL GOLDSMITH, Board President, CeaseFirePa, Wynnewood, Pa. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08358/936951-35.stm
08/12/23 A gun for Christmas
I was excited as I headed toward the bus stop. My dad was coming from downtown Denver on the 5:15 and he was bringing home "our" Christmas present. We had been saving our quarters, dimes and nickels so we could get a new .22 rifle. I could see my dad making his way past the other passengers with a Winchester .22 pump in his hand. It was beautiful. We were still saving for a proper case, so he was carrying it openly.
As we walked up the block to our house, we talked to several neighbors as they admired our new rifle. We lived in a densely populated part of east Denver, so we had to wait until the next day to drive to the outskirts of town and shoot, but it was worth the wait. I still own and love that beautiful little gun.
What would happen today if my dad had gotten on an RTD bus in the middle of Denver with a rifle? I can only imagine how many SWAT teams would be involved.
Our attitudes toward firearms have changed through the years, and those changes are not making us safer. In fact, the opposite is true.
It is irresponsible that the faculty council at Colorado State University wants to ban individuals who legally carry concealed weapons from doing so on campus.
Don't they remember what happened at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs last year?
A nut case with a gun came into the building after shooting several people in the parking lot and could have easily murdered dozens more if an armed church member had not been able to shoot him first.
Those who obtain a concealed carry permit are subject to a background check and required to take a gun safety course.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden and other law enforcement officials monitor those who have permits and will not hesitate to revoke one if the holder is not acting responsibly. There is little to fear from an armed law-abiding citizen and much to gain when they use their weapons to protect themselves, their families and even the rest of us.
Recently in India, where they have some of the strongest gun control laws in the world, a few dozen terrorists killed or wounded almost 500 people. By the time the commandos responded, the terrorists were holding hostages and had already done most of the killing.
No wonder Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
It was illegal for the terrorists to have guns, but they just didn't want to follow the laws.
In case you wonder what bad guys think, consider this statement by Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Mafia hit man, "Gun control? It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always gonna have a gun."
Many have been brainwashed, by those who want us to fear guns, into thinking that making laws against carrying (and even owning) guns will stop violence.
If laws made a difference to lawbreakers, there would be no crime - after all, it is against the law.
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20081223/OPINION04/812230301
08/12/23 State wants retroactive gun fees from Phila.
Every dollar counts in a state starved for cash.
Now, gun-toters in Philadelphia, where the deficit is projected to top $1 billion by 2013, are being asked to contribute more to strapped state coffers, too.
The effort certainly won't generate a windfall - more like small change from the city's sofa cushions.
But according to state records, it is long overdue. It also provides a glimpse at tight-fisted city-state relations in hard times.
In 2005, when the legislature amended the law governing licenses to carry firearms, the fee for a five-year license was increased from $19 to $25. The increase, channeled into accounts for license "modernization" and "validation," is supposed to make it possible for even small municipalities to get state grants to buy cameras for making gun-permit photo IDs.
But Philadelphia has not been collecting the $6 increase, a fact brought home to permit-holders with a bracing letter this month from Lt. Lisa King, commander of the Police Department gun permits unit.
"This additional $6 fee was supposed to be collected from all gun-license applicants effective May 1, 2006, [and] is required . . . regardless of whether your application was approved or denied," King wrote. "We apologize for any inconvenience, but, regrettably, if payment is not received by [Jan. 31, 2009], this debt will be placed in collections and could affect your credit. . . . Failure to pay will also result in the immediate revocation of your current firearms license."
Threatened with the loss of their carry permits, gun owners are responding by ponying up, said Lt. Fran Healy, special adviser to Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey.
"We made a mistake and I'll take full responsibility for it," Healy said. "We were supposed to increase the fee. Now we need to recoup the money that we should have gotten."
If the sum, estimated at less than $50,000, is not raised through back collection, the state will simply demand the money from the city "and we don't have it," Healy said.
For years, people seeking permits to carry concealed firearms had to prove they had legitimate personal-protection reasons. They had to prove they were proficient with firearms and get doctor's notes certifying that they were physically and mentally able to use them safely.
The state gun law was amended in 1995, making it easier to get a permit. Before the amendment, about 5,000 people were licensed to walk Philadelphia streets packing heat. Three years after the law changed, that number jumped to about 26,000. Healy said it has stayed more or less at that level since.
When the state began pressing its claim to every dollar owed, Healy sought to strike a deal. Years ago, at its own expense, the Philadelphia Police Department bought the same sort of camera-ID equipment made available through state grants, he said.
"We paid for the equipment out of our own pocket. We don't need to petition the state for grants," Healy told the officials with whom he negotiated. "Can you just waive the portion that we haven't remitted to date and we'll call it even?"
A few months later, with the economy crashing, came the answer from state officials. No.
"They want the money," Healy said, adding that the Police Department was also free to apply for state aid to maintain its equipment.
"Once I get the money there," he said, "I'm going to ask for some of it back."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/36618439.html
08/12/23 Dealer's machine guns, rifles are stolen
More than 20 firearms, including machine guns and long-range rifles, belonging to a Marshall gun dealer were stolen Sunday night from a truck in a Philadelphia suburb, federal authorities said.
The truck was parked at a restaurant in King of Prussia when the firearms were taken. The dealer had just left a gun show at the Valley Forge Convention Center and had stopped for dinner before heading back to Western Pennsylvania.
The firearms belonged to Arms & Ordnance of Commonwealth Drive in the Warrendale area of Marshall, according to John Hageman, a spokesman for the Philadelphia division of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
F. Charles Logan, the store's owner, didn't return several calls seeking comment yesterday.
Upper Merion Township police, who responded to the burglary on Sunday, said in a news release that the firearms were valued at more than $200,000.
Mr. Hageman said he could not confirm that figure. ATF agents planned to meet with Mr. Logan at his store today to get a complete accounting of each stolen firearm. Agents also were working with local police to follow up on any leads in the case.
The agency is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who has information.
The stolen firearms include at least several fully automatic machine guns, Mr. Hageman said, although he was unsure of the models.
Mr. Logan has a Class III federal license that enables him to sell machine guns, meaning he pays $500 a year on top of regular dealer license fees.
"I buy, sell, trade, and broker NFA [National Firearms Act] and other exotic firearms. I can offer long lists of references and satisfied customers at your request," says the dealer's Web site, www.arms-ordnance.net.
There was another burglary of a gun dealer at the Valley Forge Gun Show in September, Mr. Hageman said.
Anyone with information about the latest burglary is asked to call ATF at 1-800-283-4867 or Upper Merion police at 610-265-3232. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08358/936991-85.stm
08/12/22 David Spade helps Phoenix police buy rifles
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Phoenix Police Department has gotten some high-powered goodies courtesy of actor David Spade.
The one-time Phoenix resident donated $100,000 so that the department can buy approximately 50 AR-15 rifles.
Spade said he wanted to make the donation after seeing a TV news report about Phoenix officers having to buy their own rifles. Spade grew up in the Phoenix area and graduated from Arizona State University.
Phoenix Police Sgt. Alan Hill says the rifles will be given to patrol officers and that the agency was grateful for the gifts.
"These guys need to be able to do their jobs and I am just happy I could help," Spade said in a statement released by his publicist.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20081222/D9581KKO0.html
08/12/22 Derrick Jackson: Keep guns out of the national parks
Ending a 25-year-old ban, the Department of the Interior announced this month that people who have a concealed weapons permit in their state can bring a loaded weapon into national parks, forests and refuges. A week later, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne confirmed what supporters of the Endangered Species Act have dreaded all year by issuing a ruling that lets individual federal agencies decide themselves whether their projects harm the environment – without being forced to consult with wildlife scientists.
This completes eight years of political cruelty to animals and a final imposition of the National Rifle Association on what is left of public serenity in America – our shared natural sanctuaries. Critters and plants have less protection, and now humans have to wonder what is more dangerous: an alligator along the trail in the Everglades or the loaded camper carrying a loaded weapon.
The lifting of the loaded gun ban was opposed by nearly everyone who works or has worked in a national park. The Association of National Park Rangers, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police (which advocates for park rangers) expressed disappointment at the action by the Interior Department. Under the expiring regulations, you could bring an unloaded weapon into a park, as long as it remained in a car trunk or other less-accessible location.
Citing concerns about a possible increase in poaching and a federal statistic that only 1.65 violent crimes occur per 100,000 visitors in national parks, the organizations wrote in a joint letter on Dec. 5, "National parks are different from other public lands. The visitor population expects, demands and gets a higher degree of protection, enforcement and restriction in a national park. Furthermore, while national parks are amongst the safest areas to be in, the toll on the U.S. Park Ranger is high: US Park Rangers are the most assaulted federal officers in the country. This vague, wide-open regulation will only increase the danger."
To put in perspective how nuts the lifting of the ban is, it was enacted under President Reagan's Interior secretary, James Watt. Mr. Watt was so criticized by environmentalists that the great national park landscape photographer Ansel Adams called him "one of the most dangerous government officials in history."
If that administration saw fit to ban loaded guns in the parks a quarter-century ago, what does that say about the Bush administration? The lifting of the gun ban and the lowering of the gate against scientists cap an era in which wildlife refuge staffing has fallen 8.4 percent since 2004, according to a Government Accountability Office report this fall. Real purchasing power for the refuges has fallen by 11 percent since 2003.
Most ironically, the acts come in the wake of an independent report last summer commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that found that the law enforcement staff at our refuges needs to increase from 200 full-time officers to at least 400. "Low staffing levels are leading to a substantial and critical lack of law enforcement coverage and capability at many refuges across the system. At many refuges, law enforcement coverage is insufficient to ensure the protection of resources and the safety of visitors and refuge staff."
Fixing all of this has to be a priority for the Obama administration and a Democratic-led Congress to overturn. We cannot allow our sacred places to become the Wild West.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-jackson_23edi.State.Edition1.270db18.html
08/12/22 Steve Chapman: Why the park gun law makes sense
As a rule, concealed-carry licenses are off limits to anyone with a history of crime, substance abuse, drunk driving or serious mental illness. Not to mention that most states require safety training. In any case, people who are inclined to commit mayhem generally don't seek state licenses to carry guns, any more than they ask permission to break into houses or beat up girlfriends. It's the law-abiding folks who apply for licenses.
Why would peaceable souls want to take their guns when hiking or camping in a national park? Same reason they might take them other places: a desire to protect themselves. Though federal lands are mostly safe, they sometimes play host to crime. In fact, park rangers are far more likely to be assaulted or killed than FBI agents.
Some opponents of guns in our parks argue along the lines of this New York Times editorial: "If Americans want to feel safer in their national parks, the proper solution is to increase park funding, which has decayed steadily since the Bush administration took office." Maybe that would help, but we can't put a park ranger at every bend in the trail. And if you run into a thug deep in the backcountry, you can't expect the police or anyone else to come to the rescue.
For some people – solitary women in particular – having the means of self-defense in the woods can be not only a comfort but a lifesaver. It's fine to trust in one's fellow man. That doesn't mean it's paranoid to have a Plan B.
Judging from a wealth of experience, adopting this new policy would be a non-event, with no unwanted repercussions. The only danger it poses is to criminals, who would lose some easy prey, and anti-gun zealots, who would once again be proven wrong. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-chapman_23edi.State.Edition1.270c29c.html
08/12/22 Pa. SPCA officers to carry guns starting in 2009
STROUDSBURG -- Humane officers in Pennsylvania will soon start carrying guns as part of an SPCA policy change made to ensure officers' safety.
The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals approved the decision recently and officers will be armed starting in January, chief executive Howard Nelson told the Pocono Record for a story Sunday.
"The animal abusers are already armed," Nelson told the newspaper.
He said two Stroudsburg-based humane officers will be the first to carry guns.
The officers will receive training before being armed and Nelson said the guns are to be used only for self-protection -- not to euthanize animals.
A PSPCA board member who resigned in August had predicted the move in his resignation letter and said he thought it was a very risky decision.
"It is true that such arming is permitted by law, conditioned upon proof of completion of legislatively prescribed training," longtime member Richard Elliott wrote.
But Elliott said officers have other options, including batons and sprays, if they are threatened while conducting investigations or enforcement.
"I strongly feel that accomplishment of such arming is a recipe for tragedy and potential serious liability, at the very least," he wrote. "If our agents feel concern for their safety when out in the field, there are ample nonlethal means to allay such worries."
There is also legislation in the state Legislature that would give humane officers immunity from litigation.
House Bill 2547 would grant humane police officers civil immunity when investigating animal cruelty cases.
http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/search/ci_11288434?IADID=Search-yorkdispatch.inyork.com-yorkdispatch.inyork.com
08/12/19 Gun retailer targets North Whitehall
A North Carolina gun retailer is hoping to capitalize on fears in North Whitehall over a recent crime wave.
Charlotte-based Hyatt Guns announced Thursday that it will give township residents a 15 percent discount on new firearms purchased through its Web site. The store made a similar offer earlier this month to residents of St. Louis after a city alderman urged his constituents to buy guns in response to a spate of murders. But this is the first time Hyatt is making such an offer to a small town, said spokesman Robert Ross.
''This is a little town in Pennsylvania, the kind of place we all want to retire to,'' Ross said. ''Then, all of a sudden, crime comes to town. It seems that nowhere in the U.S. is safe.''
North Whitehall has seen a rash of burglaries and related property crimes in recent months, prompting residents to form a neighborhood watch organization. More than 200 people have shown up at each of the group's first two meetings.
Its most recent meeting, on Sunday, was interrupted when a woman announced that she had received a call from her daughter telling her someone was trying to break into her home. Police responded and found the house secure, according to state police Lt. William Teper.
Local gun seller Jackie Schneck has already seen a steady stream of customers come into her husband's Schnecksville store. She thinks the rash of burglaries has spurred some of those purchases.
''A lot of local people talk about the thefts here in the Schnecksville area. Women are, too, when they buy pepper spray,'' Schneck said. ''It's like it was when [Barack] Obama was elected, there was this surge of people.''
After Obama was elected president last month, gun shops reported a spike in sales because some people feared that Obama's stance on gun control would limit the sale of firearms.
Teper declined to say whether he thought it was a good idea for people to arm themselves in response to the crimes. But he added that he hopes people who buy guns will take safety and training courses.
''It's certainly your right to [buy a gun], but I would hope people get trained on how to use that firearm,'' he said. ''So many times people will buy a handgun, put it on the shelf and not use it for five years.''
Burglary reports have been declining in North Whitehall after rising through the summer and spiking in October, Teper said. Since police arrested a burglary suspect on Nov. 12, only three more break-ins and one attempt have been reported, he said.
''That's still three and one attempt too many, but the numbers are going down,'' he said.
State police arrested a man on Wednesday who they believe raped a 77-year-old township woman last month. Teper said he hopes that will ease many residents' minds.
Schneck said she worried about the competition that Hyatt Guns' offer would pose for her and nearby gun stores. North Whitehall, located close to state game lands, has at least 10 gun stores within a 15-mile radius, according to local directories.
But Ross said that local gun shops could also benefit from their promotion, because any gun ordered off their Web site must be shipped to a federally licensed firearms dealer, who would file the paperwork and conduct the background check. That would bring people into the stores, to buy ammunition and accessories, Ross said. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_5gunoffer1.67139491dec19,0,235697.story
08/12/19 Under-21-Year-Olds and Guns in Illinois:
Federal law makes it harder for 18-to-20-year-olds to get handguns, and some states prohibit it outright; yet nearly all states at least allow 18-to-20-year-olds to have long guns.
Except, it turns out, for Illinois, where state law bars 18-to-20-year-olds from possessing any gun -- including a stun gun -- unless they (1) have a parent or legal guardian's written consent, (2) haven't been convicted of any misdemeanor other than a traffic offense, and (3) the consenting parent or guardian isn't himself barred from owning a gun.
This means that if you're an 18-to-20-year-old and both your parents are dead, or if your living parent or parents have been convicted of felonies or certain misdemeanors, or if your living parent or parents have recently been mental patients, or if your living parent or parents are in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant alien visa, you can't possess any sort of gun in Illinois. If your parents are around and not disqualified, then your right to own a gun turns on your parents' permission -- something that to my knowledge doesn't happen as to anything else for adults.
Oddly, if your parents aren't nonimmigrant visitors to the U.S., but are instead foreigners who aren't in the U.S. in the first place, then they can indeed give you permission to buy a gun -- they can't just do it once they've been admitted to the U.S. under a nonimmigrant visa.
By the way, the Illinois Constitution provides, "Subject only to the police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The Illinois Supreme Court has held that, though handgun bans are allowed under the police power, "individual citizens" do have "a right to possess some form of weapon suitable for self-defense or recreation" (emphasis added) and "that a ban on all firearms that an individual citizen might use would not be permissible." Kalodimos v. Village of Morton Grove, 470 N.E.2d 266, 273 (Ill. 1984).
Queries: The age of majority in Illinois was 21 in 1970, when the right was enacted; it wasn't lowered to 18 until 1971. Does the right not fully apply to under-21-year-olds, the way some constitutional rights today don't fully apply to under-18-year-olds (consider the right to sexual autonomy, the right to marry, the right to abortion, which could be limited through certain kinds of parental consent laws, and likely the right to bear arms itself)? Or does the right apply to all adult citizens (unless otherwise disqualified by reason of felony conviction or the like) under today's age of majority, regardless of what the age of majority was at the time? Or has the right always extended to everyone 18 and above, regardless of the age of majority for other purposes?
Also, what would the answer be under a Second Amendment that's incorporated against the states, if such incorporation takes place? These questions would also have some importance in other states that allow long gun possession for 18-to-20-year-olds but ban handgun possession until age 21, and also as to the federal government, which makes handguns harder for under-21-year-olds to acquire.
Note also that when the age of majority was 21, presumably 18-to-20-year-olds could get a guardian if both parents were dead. Now that the age of majority is 18, I take it that it's impossible for them to get a guardian even if they wanted one in order to get the guardian's permission to own a gun.
http://volokh.com/posts/1229729947.shtml
08/12/18 Concealed and loaded guns OK in Yosemite
Licensed gun owners will soon be able to carry concealed and loaded weapons in Yosemite National Park.
The Bush administration, as part of last-minute actions, overturned a 25-year-old federal rule that restricted loaded guns in national parks.
The rule change would make national park gun laws coincide with state gun laws, said Scott Gediman, Yosemite National Park spokesman.
“This is the same basic approach adopted by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, both of which allow visitors to carry weapons consistent with applicable federal and state laws,” said Lyle Laverty, assistant secretary for the Interior.
Gediman said President-elect Barack Obama can re-enact the national park gun rule, which the Reagan administration first enacted.
A draft proposal by the Bush administration for a similar rule change last spring never came to fruition.
Gediman said more than 140,000 letters of opposition were written against the change.
Yosemite National Park is not taking sides, Gediman said, but he added that national parks tend to be some of the safest places in the nation.
“You don’t really have to worry about getting mugged in Yosemite,” Gediman said.
Protection against wildlife has also been cited as a reason for the rule change. In Yosemite, the biggest fear seems to come from black bears.
Yosemite records show that there have been more than 400 incidents with black bears and humans this year. Last year, there were more than 500 incidents, when bears damage or, most often, eat visitors’ belongings.
Though there have been black bear attacks in Yosemite, there is no record of anyone being killed by a black bear in Yosemite or all of California, according to records.
Still, local gun enthusiasts argue that it is their right to protect themselves wherever they are.
“Why not?” questioned Bill Youngman, president of the Mother Lode Gun Club.
Youngman said a licensed gun owner should be able to carry a gun for protection anywhere.
“You know how things are today,” he said.
The National Rifle Association also lauded the decision.
“We are pleased that the Interior Department recognizes the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families while enjoying America’ s national parks and wildlife refugees,” NRA executive director Chris Cox said in a press release.
Those opposed to the rule change include every living former national park service director, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
The association argues that allowing concealed weapons in national parks will make parks more dangerous and increase poaching practices.
“This regulation will put visitors, employees and precious resources of the national park system at risk,” said Bill Wade, president of the Coalition of National Park Retirees
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/2008121895336/News/Local-News/Concealed-and-loaded-guns-OK-in-Yosemite
08/12/19 Lawsuit: Delco gun policy unconstitutional
Delaware County was hit with a federal lawsuit yesterday claiming that its policy of refusing to return confiscated firearms unless the owners obtain a court order is unconstitutional.
The civil-rights suit was filed by C. Scott Shields, a gun-rights attorney and small-town political firebrand who has been the National Rifle Association's point man in fighting Philadelphia's attempt to write its own gun laws.
The plaintiff, Thomas DeOrio, 21, of Glen Mills, argues that the county government, judges and Sheriff's Department illegally retain confiscated guns - even if a crime hasn't been committed - when the owner is entitled to retrieve them.
In DeOrio's case, Brookhaven police seized his collection of handguns and rifles in October and turned them over to the sheriff when his girlfriend filed for a temporary protection-from-abuse order. Shields said she perceived something he had said to be threatening. Three days later, after a court hearing, a judge dismissed the order, records show.
But DeOrio soon learned that getting his guns back wouldn't be as easy.
Although the protection-from-abuse order had been thrown out, Shields said the sheriff's office refused to return the firearms unless DeOrio filed a "legal action."
"Hence, we have a civil-rights suit," said Shields, the mayor of Rutledge Borough.
Shields said the county's policy lacks a provision for the return of firearms when a protection-from-abuse order expires or is dismissed, and instead gives "unfettered discretion" to judges.
"This has been going on for years in Delaware County," he said. "Some of these people believe that firearms are inherently dangerous and you should not have them."
County Solicitor John P. McBlain said he would review the policy to "make sure we're doing the right thing," but otherwise declined to comment because the matter is in litigation.
The case mirrors a lawsuit Shields filed last year against the Upper Darby Police Department when it blocked a woman from retrieving her late father's guns. She was his sole beneficiary.
A federal judge ruled in August that a portion of the department's policy is unconstitutional because it gives police Superintendent Michael Chitwood Sr. the final say, in some instances, in determining if a person may retrieve confiscated guns.
Robert DiDomenicis, an attorney for Upper Darby, said the township likely would resolve that case without a trial by modifying its policy.
The township also agreed to give the firearms to the woman who filed the suit. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20081219_Lawsuit__Delco_gun_policy_unconstitutional.html
08/12/18 L.A. council tightens gun, ammunition laws
The move is intended to help reduce the city's gun and gang violence, but an NRA lawyer says a lawsuit is likely.
The Los Angeles City Council approved a package of gun control laws Wednesday, placing new requirements on ammunition sellers and banning the sale of military-style ammunition in the hopes of further reducing the city's gun and gang violence.
The measures ban the sale of .50-caliber ammunition, capable of penetrating a car's engine, and would require the city's ammunition vendors to be licensed, to sell ammunition face-to-face instead of over the Internet and require gun dealers to report a full accounting of their inventory twice a year to the Police Department.
The council passed laws prohibiting the installation of secret compartments for guns in cars and allowing the city to permanently seize vehicles used by certain gang members during a crime, which was proposed by City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo.
The council also approved an ordinance that would allow landlords to evict tenants who are convicted of illegally possessing weapons or ammunition within 1,000 feet of the rental property.
A lawyer for the National Rifle Assn. said his client probably would file suit to block some of the measures.
Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who helped develop the ordinances with Councilman Jack Weiss and other members, praised the package at a news conference before the vote.
"We use this to stop a vehicle," Bratton said, holding up a .50-caliber bullet longer and thicker than a finger. "Unless you are out trying to kill Godzilla, and I think the last time we saw Godzilla was in the 1950s, there is no need for this type of weapon" unless it is in the hands of the military or law enforcement, he said.
Villaraigosa dismissed questions about whether the ammunition restrictions would have a practical effect since buyers could simply purchase the bullets over the Internet or in cities where the laws do not apply.
"Part of what we're doing here is leading the way," Villaraigosa said, stating that the measures are another tool to fight gun violence and that he hoped other cities and President-elect Barack Obama's administration would follow suit. "This is the most far-reaching effort of any big city in the country. . . . This isn't about symbolism; it's about results."
The council approved the measures unanimously.
But C.D. Michel, a Long Beach attorney who represents the National Rifle Assn. and the California Rifle & Pistol Assn., said his clients were likely to sue over the new laws governing ammunition sales and vendors because they either conflict with or are duplicated by state law.
Michel, the law partner of city attorney candidate Carmen A. Trutanich, also questioned the effectiveness of the ammunition measures, noting that there are only a handful of gun vendors left in the city and buyers could go elsewhere.
"A lot of these don't really do what the sound bite would portray them as doing," said Michel, who accused Weiss of pushing the measures to get publicity for his own campaign for city attorney. "It's about trying to look like you're doing something when you're not really doing anything. . . . My clients will just just challenge the ones that are illegal in court."
Weiss, who introduced four of the ordinances and is chairman of the city's public safety committee, addressed the possibility of legal challenges by the NRA at the news conference.
"I think the message from everyone up here to the NRA is pretty simple: Make our day. We will fight you in court. We will win," Weiss said.
Weiss has criticized Trutanich's associations with the NRA, which is likely to be an issue in the city attorney's race.
After several council members received a letter from Michel on the letterhead of the Trutanich-Michel firm challenging several proposed gun and ammunition ordinances, Weiss called on his opponent to "fire the NRA as a client or quit the race for city attorney."
Weiss' campaign also circulated a news article to reporters in which Trutanich refers to the NRA as his client.
But when Weiss raised the issue in early December, Trutanich released a statement stating that the NRA is not his client, he is not a member of the organization and he disagrees with many of the NRA's positions.
His campaign manager said he was misquoted when he referred to the NRA as a client in the August news article. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-guns18-2008dec18,0,3132923.story
08/12/18 Kings' kicked off streets: Bust nets alleged gang members, drug and gun dealers
ALLENTOWN | Local police, FBI and a slew of other law enforcement agents swept 23 suspects, many of whom are reputed gang members, off city streets in an operation targeting drug and firearm trafficking.
The indictments against the suspects spell out a two-year investigation led by the U.S. Attorney's Office into a widespread conspiracy to sell powdered and crack cocaine, heroin and firearms ranging from 9mm pistols and assorted rifles to 12-gauge shotguns.
"Two pretty evil things were going on -- drugs and guns," acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference scheduled just hours after the operation concluded.
Magid said Allentown was a safer place now that these individuals -- 21 from Allentown and one each from Emmaus and Bethlehem -- including two high-ranking Latin Kings gang leaders -- are behind bars.
"Gangs are not just a big city problem," Magid said, noting that they plague smaller towns as well as Bethlehem and Easton.
The suspects were rounded up in a series of sweeps starting Tuesday night and continuing through Wednesday morning, Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin said.
Officers seized 13 weapons altogether, Magid said.
The man from Bethlehem, Jamie Bryon Richards, 20, was accused of helping to sell a cache of stolen guns. Police allege Richards conspired with three others to sell 12 weapons stolen from a residence in Emmaus to someone in Allentown on Aug. 6 for $1,000.
Richards then allegedly sold a single firearm to someone in Allentown on Aug. 11 for $50.
Several suspects are tied to local gangs, police said, including the Latin Kings and Bloods.
Court papers say the following are Latin Kings of the Looney Tunes/Goonies tribe: Samuel "King Mafia" Reyes Jr., Raul "King Sazon" Reyes, Grimardy "King Lonely" Velazquez, Jovitzavaid M. "King Buddah" Diaz, Daniel Ismael "King Danny" Castro, Alex Alfredo "King Cuco" Rojas, and Jose Ivan "King Vega" Figueroa.
Dale M. "Dee" Glover, Julie Ortiz and Anthony "Sun" Woodley have ties with the Bloods, according to court papers.
Police believe the Reyes brothers, Samuel, 25, and Raul, 20, serve as the second and third "crown," respectively, in their Latin Kings tribe.
The second crown is the top leader's right-hand man and the third crown is known as the enforcer, or muscle of the group, providing security and applying the tribe's bylaws.
Police did not identify the top leader.
All of the defendants face federal charges. The minimum sentence each faces if convicted is 10 years in federal prison, Magid said, adding some could serve life sentences.
Martin said four additional people were picked up in the sweeps and face drug charges on a county level.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski applauded the effort to remove alleged criminals from the city's streets and from neighboring communities.
"It was a significant day for the city of Allentown," he said. "A really bad day for a number of drug dealers."
Besides the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the Lehigh County Drug Task Force, Allentown police and others participated in the investigation. http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122961990383970.xml&coll=3
08/12/17 Schnecksville Residents Combat Rash of Crime
A Lehigh County community is up in arms, literally, after a recent rash of break-ins. The crime wave has led to a spike in sales at a gun shop in Schnecksville. WFMZ's Stephanie Esposito is live in the newsroom with more on our top story. Schnecksville is not used to seeing so many break ins in their community so they're turning to the second amendment to protect themselves. A neighborhood gun shop say sales are up 50%. NAT
REPORTER: Schnecksville in Lehigh County is a rural town with little more than 2,000 people. So when around 20 break-ins happen in about a one month span the community responds.
NAT (SHOW PACKED MEETING) 14:53:33 Now they're scared cause of the crime, so they're buying their guns.
REPORTER: Walter Schneck owns Hot Shot Sports in Schnecksville. Schneck says the most popular guns are small revolvers.
14:53:45 I have young people I have older couples. A lot of people in their 70's.
REPORTER: The community is starting a crime watch and the leaders of the group are urging people to know their rights. SUNDAY 18:36 We want to let them know what to do to protect themselves in their own home whether it's a handgun or pepper spray or whatever.
14:59:58 I looked over the faces of those people in the room and I would say 80 percent of these people are over 70 years old. This is more of a retirement community. And they're scared.
REPORTER: The community has organized two meetings in the last month with state police to stay informed. After one of the meetings...
14:56:56 30 containers of mase in one day.
REPORTER: Schneck says one of his biggest concerns is safety...so he always tells his customers to call 911 before letting an intruder know they're armed.
14:55:43 First thing you do it make the phone call, get your gun and hide somewhere, if someone breaks into your room, then it's time..
State Police say they made an arrest in connection with the burglaries, and since that arrest in November burglaries have tapered off. http://wfmz.com/view/?id=592406
08/12/17 Mayor allows gun measure into law without signing it
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl allowed a city gun control bill to become law without his signature.
In a letter to council, Mr. Ravenstahl said the bill will be unenforceable and pre-empted by state law, but he supports efforts to stem stolen gun trafficking.
On Dec. 2, City Council voted 6-1 to approve legislation giving gun owners 24 hours to call police after they learn a firearm is missing. They would face a $500 fine if they do not report it, plus a $1,000 fine and possible prison time for a second non-report.
The bill is intended to deter straw purchasers from selling guns to criminals. When guns are traced back to them from crime scenes they routinely say they were lost or stolen. City Police Chief Nate Harper supported the legislation but his boss, Mr. Ravenstahl, did not.
"I appreciate council's fervor and creativity in attempting to craft legislation that would not be subject to the pre-emption hurdles. However, I cannot agree that our ordinance, as written, would be enforceable. Accordingly, I will not be signing it," he wrote. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08352/935561-53.stm
08/12/16 Pittsburgh anticipates challenge to new gun law
PITTSBURGH - The city has a new law that would fine or jail gun owners who do not report stolen or missing guns within 24 hours.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl allowed the bill to become law yesterday when he returned it to Council without his signature. Ravenstahl said that he does not believe the measure will be enforceable and that it will be preempted by state law, but that he appreciates the effort to reduce gun violence.
Some Council members said they realize the measure may be illegal, but feel they must do something to address a rash of recent gun violence in the city.
The state's supremacy on gun laws also has been challenged in Philadelphia, where a similar measure was signed by Mayor Nutter. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20081216_Pittsburgh_anticipates_challenge_to_new_gun_law.html
08/12/16 Tulsa lawmaker wants repeal of gun tax
OKLAHOMA CITY — A Tulsa lawmaker said Tuesday he will file legislation to repeal the sales tax on the purchase of guns or ammunition in Oklahoma.
"As Americans, we should not have to pay a tax to exercise our constitutional rights — especially our Second Amendment rights," said Rep. Eric Proctor, D-Tulsa.
The measure, by Proctor and state Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Howe, D-Poteau, will not affect any dedicated revenue stream for wildlife or other programs, Proctor said, adding it would have minimal impact on the state treasury.
"In Oklahoma, we have a long tradition of sportsmanship and hunting that precedes statehood and we should protect that heritage," Proctor said.
He said the tax should also be repealed because it could be a barrier for those needing protection.
"People shouldn't have to pay a tax to the government if they need a gun in the home for self-protection," Proctor said. "No matter what, the responsibility to protect your family is greater than the state's need to generate taxes."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20081216_11_0_OKLAHO864334
08/12/16 Hunters donate 6,500 deer to help feed the hungry
MADISON –The generosity of Wisconsin deer hunters is evident again this year as numbers come in from meat processors participating in the venison donation program, according to Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank. Preliminary reports from the processors count more than 6,500 deer donated to date. All deer from the CWD zone are tested for presence of the disease before processing.
“This is a great program that helps needy families put high quality protein on the family table – and we know that meat is deeply appreciated,” said DNR Secretary Matt Frank. “We really thank hunters who have taken the time and effort to contribute deer to this program. The need continues and I urge hunters to consider bagging a deer for food pantries during the late bow season or holiday hunts.”
Most deer seasons are now complete but some deer are still expected to be donated from the just completed statewide antlerless gun hunt, the Dec. 24 – Jan. 4 holiday firearm season in the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone and the late archery season which also ends Jan. 4.
Since the 2000 fall hunting season, hunters have donated more than 68,000 deer, which have provided more than 3 million pounds of ground venison to needy families. This year, 123 participating meat processors in 55 counties contributed to the effort. There is no cost to the hunter beyond transporting the registered deer to the processor.
A large network of volunteers including sports groups, church groups, civic organizations and food pantry staff work together to distribute the meat from the processor to the food pantries. Department of Natural Resources staff, USDA - Wildlife Services staff and county staff help administer the program.
In non-CWD zones, processing costs are paid for by revenues from the sale of bonus antlerless deer harvest permits and a surcharge on deer hunting licenses. In the CWD zone bonus permit sales and the surcharge are supplemented by dollars raised through a coalition of community organizations called Target Hunger. The coalition covers a portion of the processing costs and handles distribution of venison.
Hunt For The Hungry in northeast Wisconsin, is also a strong partner in the Wisconsin Deer Donation 2008 program.
Wildlife officials say it won’t be until the end of all hunting seasons before final deer harvest numbers are known, and the same goes for donations. Preliminary kill numbers from the recently completed nine-day gun deer hunt are down from the previous couple of years and that may have an impact on the number of donations. There is also speculation that with the economic downturn, hunters may be keeping more meat for their own use.
Lead in Venison
Testing of hunter harvested venison in several states has revealed the presence of very fine particles of lead in venison harvested with lead bullets. The particles are often too small to be seen and can disperse far from the wound channel. Although lead in venison does not rival lead paint in older homes as a health risk for the public, the risk is not low enough to ignore.
Children under 6 years of age and pregnant women are at the greatest risk from lead exposure. The amount of lead found in a small percentage of venison samples suggest that long term effects of lead consumption could occur in people who regularly eat venison shot with lead ammunition. State health experts say however, that there is currently no known evidence linking human consumption of venison to lead poisoning.
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=149#art3
08/12/16 Washington Council Enacts Tough Gun-Control Measure
WASHINGTON — Nearly six months after the Supreme Court put an end to the District of Columbia’s decades-old ban on handgun possession, the City Council here passed a sweeping new ordinance on Tuesday to regulate gun ownership.
The legislation would require all gun owners to receive five hours of safety training and to register their firearms every three years. In addition, they would have to undergo a criminal background check every six years.
Councilman Phil Mendelson, who helped draft the bill and shepherd it through the Council, called it a “very significant piece of legislation that borrows best practices from other states.”
Opponents said the legislation flew in the face of the Supreme Court ruling in June.
“The D.C. Council continues to try to make it harder and harder for law-abiding citizens to access this freedom,” Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told The Associated Press.
Since the Supreme Court struck down the district’s handgun ban, the Council had stitched together a series of emergency measures to regulate gun ownership. Those included allowing residents to keep handguns in their homes, but only if they were used for self-defense.
This fall members of Congress sought to pass a bill that would have rolled back some of the temporary restrictions, but it stalled.
In the landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the Second Amendment protected an individual right to own a gun and overturned the district’s 32-year-old ban.
At the time, Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion, acknowledged the problem of handgun violence, but said, “It is not the role of this court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.”
Proponents of the current legislation said it was the strongest move by district officials to toughen Washington’s gun laws since the court ruling. At the Council session, the body’s chairman, Vincent C. Gray, told of how as a child he was almost accidentally shot by his brother.
Mr. Mendelson said in an interview that he was optimistic that a provision of the new ordinance that required certain handguns to be “microstamped” beginning in 2011 would help in tracking down violent offenders.
He also said the bill had provisions to make it more difficult for some residents, like those who have a history of violent behavior or have been committed to a mental institution within the last five years, to register to own a gun.
“A lot of critics of gun registration say that all it does is it restrict law-abiding people,” Mr. Mendelson said. “But the reality is it makes it easier for law enforcement to go after criminals.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/us/17gun.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
08/12/16 Company tries to get gun classed as medical device
Read the latest from the FDA in this blog
A US company claims to have received federal approval to market a 9-mm handgun as a medical device and hopes the US government will reimburse seniors who buy the $300 firearm. But the US Food and Drug Administration says there are currently no formal designations of the gun as a medical device.
Called the Palm Pistol, the weapon is designed for people who have trouble firing a normal handgun due to arthritis and other debilitating conditions.
"It's something that they need to assist them in daily living," says Matthew Carmel, president of Constitution Arms in Maplewood, New Jersey, which hopes to manufacture the Palm Pistol - now just a patent and specifications.
"The justification for this would be no more or less for a [walking aid] or wheelchair, or any number of things that are medical devices," he says.
The sales information reads: "It is also ideal for seniors, disabled or others who may have limited strength or manual dexterity. Using the thumb instead of the index finger for firing, it significantly reduces muzzle drift, one of the principal causes of inaccurate targeting. Point and shoot couldn't be easier."
Constitutional Arms informed a medical technology blog that the FDA had approved the Palm Pistol as a medical device, classifying it as a "Daily Activity Assist Device".
The company reportedly said that they are now seeking a Durable Medical Equipment coding for the gun, which if awarded would allow it to be prescribed and reimbursement paid through Medicare or private health insurance.
Health benefits?
But FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey denies that the agency has formally labelled the gun a medical device: "At this time, there have been no formal designations of the Palm Pistol by the FDA as a medical device."
"The FDA doesn't make a determination about a weapon, they make a determination about medical products that are designed to help people and improve their health," says Bill Maisel, Director of the Medical Device Safety Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Carmel contends that he submitted documentation to the FDA to get Palm Pistol listed as a Class I medical device - a classification reserved for devices that pose little risk to a patient's health, such as stethoscopes and walking aids.
Registration doubts
As evidence of the government's stamp of approval, Carmel points to a notice (pdf format) he received from FDA.
Dated 2 December 2008, it reads: "You have successfully entered your facility registration and device listing information," then goes onto list an address in Maplewood, New Jersey, for Constitution Arms.
"I see that a facility has been registered. That does not register a device or a pistol," Maisel says.
Even if the FDA were to approve the Palm Pistol as a medical device, securing Medicare reimbursement is another issue entirely, says Kevin Schulman, an expert on medical device regulation at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "Medicare does not cover everything that FDA approves."
'Nice gimmick'
To reimburse a drug, treatment or device, Medicare must determine that it is reasonable and necessary in the course of medical treatment, he says. "The first question for Medicare is whether this would be potentially beneficial, and the answer seems to be obviously no."
Constitution Arms is taking pre-orders for the Palm Pistol, while Carmel determines whether the market is large enough to go into production. "I've been getting a lot of calls," he says.
For $25, customers can be one of the first to own the weapon, which Carmel expects to deliver by 2010. The refundable deposit will sit in an escrow account and serve as proof to investors that the Palm Pistol has a sizeable market, he says.
The potential for Medicare reimbursement, and perhaps even payment from private insurers will also encourage investors.
"It's not implanted in the body, but the obvious result of this thing [a bullet] could be," says Schulman.
"It's a nice gimmick for this manufacturer, but I can't imagine that Medicare would pay for this, since it doesn't meet their criteria," he says. "They're trying to game the system, clearly, but hopefully they won't get much further."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16207-gun-for-the-disabled-classed-as-medical-device.html
08/12/15 On Bill of Rights Day, Imagine the D.C. Gun Law in 1775
Today is the United States´ Bill of Rights Day, but District of Columbia residents are second-class citizens when it comes to the Second Amendment. President-elect Barack Obama certainly does not support it. When I filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court this June supporting the respondent in District of Columbia v. Heller on behalf of 55 senators, the senate president, and 250 representatives, Obama declined. And his voting record in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Congress has been as hostile to American gun owners as King George III was in 1775. What´s in store for Second Amendment rights come January?
Imagine that at Lexington and Concord, British Major John Pitcairn does not shout "Disperse you Rebels—Damn you, throw down your Arms and disperse!"…and that the shot heard ´round the world is not fired. Imagine that instead he reads to the assembled colonists the following decree by British Commander-in-Chief General Thomas Gage, modeled of course after the newly-minted 2008 District of Columbia gun law:
1. Bans "assault weapons," defined by a long list of various rifles, pistols, and shotguns, and concludes with the catch-all: "Any firearm that the Chief may designate as an assault weapon by rule." Anyone who disobeys will be imprisoned.
2. Requires all non-banned firearms to be registered with the Chief, who promises never to confiscate them—unless you forget to register them, that is—and "registration certificates shall expire three years after the date of issuance unless renewed."
3. A non-banned pistol can be registered but only "for use in self-defense within that person´s home." You cannot defend yourself outside the home. "The Chief shall require any registered pistol to be submitted for a ballistics identification procedure and shall establish a reasonable fee for such procedure." Oh, and only one pistol can be registered in a thirty-day period.
4. Within two years—1777 for the colonists, 2010 for D.C. residents—you will go to prison if you have a pistol that is not "microstamp ready" or is an "unsafe pistol" as determined by weirdoes in the futuristic state of California.
5. Knapsacks with more than ten rounds of ammunition are banned as "large capacity ammunition feeding devices." Essentially, you will be arrested if you have eleven or more rounds.
Of course the "Chief" is the Chief of Police, and these quotes came directly from the new law. Imagine that the colonists reverently surrendered their "assault weapons" and sought to register their non-banned arms and pay the Chief his "reasonable fee." Imagine that our founders were sheepish wimps who remained subservient to royal tyranny instead of demanding the American Revolution. Imagine that two centuries later we delegated all power to the California legislature and that in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), D.C. won instead of lost.
Thankfully, that was not the case. The Supreme Court ruled against D.C. and held its handgun ban to be in violation of the Second Amendment´s "right of the people to keep and bear arms." But with Obama´s recent appointment of Eric Holder as his attorney general and D.C.´s determination to leave its citizens helpless against the criminals the police can´t control, history shows you can´t hold your breath waiting for others to protect your rights. It seems the colonists at Lexington and Concord had it right. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/85071
08/12/15 Put a Hold on Holder's Nomination
A conservative senator would be a true American hero if he or she would put a hold on -- i.e., threaten to filibuster -- the nomination of Eric Holder to be the next attorney general.
Let me be clear: I don’t believe that conservatives should use the filibuster to block Holder. But I do think the filibuster is an excellent procedural tool to force a needed debate. Senators should explore Holder’s views on the right to bear arms and the Elian Gonzales raid before they consent to his appointment.
The Second Amendment is sacrosanct to all freedom-loving Americans. Yet Holder, in his capacity as former deputy attorney general from 1997 to 2001 and acting attorney general in 2001, signed a brief to the Supreme Court last year arguing that “the Second Amendment does not protect firearms possession or use that is unrelated to participation in a well-regulated militia.” This strongly suggests that Holder is hostile to private gun ownership and will work to restrict gun rights.
There’s more. According to the Cato Institute’s David Koppel, Holder has “advocated federal licensing of handgun owners, a three-day waiting period on handgun sales, rationing handguns sales to no more than one per month, banning possession of handguns” and supported numerous other gun control initiatives
Oh, Holder does support some gun rights. He supports the “right” of federal agents to use machine guns to threaten families and enter a home without the consent of a court to seize a 6-year-old boy.
On April 22, 2000, Elian Gonzalez was seized by federal agents who stormed the Miami household of Elian to return Elian to his father in Communist Cuba. Holder appeared on Fox News to shill for the Clinton administration’s raid and said that “he was not taken at the point of a gun.” Donato Darymple, the fisherman who saved Elian from downing off the coast of Florida in November 1999, told MSNBC that “they busted down the door and put guns right to our heads.” The infamous photo of Elian getting snatched from the arms of Donato, with a federal agent’s gun pointed at him, indicates that Holder wasn’t truthful when he defended the raid.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. It also states that “no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The seizure of Elian was unreasonable in many respects. Yet in a Fox News interview, Holder denied that Elian was taken at gunpoint, and stated that there was no need for a court order to seize him because the “INS can do this on its own.” http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29907
08/12/14 Ted Nugent: Gun-free zone a crime unto itself
Law-abiding citizens shouldn't end up defenseless victims
There is no bigger advocate for criminal control than me, so long as we do not go about manufacturing criminals out of otherwise law-abiding people.
Enter New York Giants player Plaxico Burress. He accidentally blew a hole in his leg with his Glock handgun while in a New York City nightclub. His list of crimes against responsible gun handling is too long to share with you here. He's a Numbnut of the Year award winner.
Ah, but this is even more idiotic: New York City is going to throw the Sullivan Gun Law book at Burress for merely having a handgun.
Only a select few people are given permits to carry a gun in the Big Apple. For this, Burress could get quite a few years at the Cross Bars Hotel.
Criminal thugs, of course, are not deterred from carrying guns by New York City's draconian gun laws. Mayor Blowhard Bloomberg and other Big Apple elected buffoons who forbid NYC citizens from defending themselves are complicit in turning innocent, law-abiding citizens into defenseless victims.
By review: Gun-free zones, are a murderer's dream zone.
With the recent Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, Burress' legal sharks should argue that New York City's restrictions violate the Second Amendment.
While the media spotlight has been on Burress, a little-reported story is more telling.
St. Louis Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe stated that people should indeed get guns and carry them in order to protect themselves, as cops clearly can't be everywhere. His point is undeniable.
Our Founding Fathers wrote extensively about a person's right and obligation to carry a gun for self-defense. To be unarmed and helpless is irresponsible. In the eyes of everyone I know, it is unforgivable.
The world watched in horror as terrorists in Mumbai, India, killed almost 200 people and wounded more than 300 others. The unarmed victims were slaughtered like defenseless sheep. It took Indian SWAT teams hours to even begin to respond and more than three days to finally wipe out the killers. I like bad guys wiped out before the carnage.
Attack coming soon
Terrorism and security experts all expect America to be hit again soon. While I salute President Bush, our intelligence agencies and lawmen who have prevented these monsters from attacking us for eight years, we all know such an event is not a matter of "if" but "when." Therefore, it is incumbent for our laws to allow us the means to protect ourselves from these terror monsters.
Imagine terrorists simultaneously attacking a number of hotels in Manhattan, or an event at Madison Square Garden or Central Park. As good as they are, it would take hours or days for the New York City's finest to kill or capture all of the terrorists.
Now try to imagine the same scenario if New York City residents were allowed to carry guns to protect themselves. At least they would have a fighting chance. Not today.
Thanks to its well-body-guarded mayor and other anti-freedom bureaucrats, New York City residents would be as helpless as the victims in Mumbai.
Prosecuting Burress and others for carrying a gun sends a message to terrorists: "Come to the Big Apple. We're defenseless." Ted Nugent is a Waco-based musician and television show host. Contact him directly at tednugent.com.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/opinion/stories/nugent/2008/12/14/12142008_wac_nugent.html
08/12/13 We need crime control --not gun control
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month claimed some 500 casualties, dead and injured. Among the many questions raised by the outrage, there was a purely practical one: Why was the attack so successful? How could so few terrorists claim so many victims?
One obvious answer is firepower. Guns were illegal in the hands of both the terrorists and the victims. The victims obeyed the laws, the terrorists didn't. The police had guns, of course, but instead of protecting people, they stayed away until the massacre was practically over. Gun laws -- surprise, surprise! -- weren't strong enough to defend victims, only strong enough to keep victims from defending themselves.
India's gun control, one of the strictest in the world, goes back to the 19th century when Britain introduced it to forestall a repetition of the Indian Mutiny. "The guns used in last week's Bombay massacre were all 'prohibited weapons' under Indian law," wrote Richard Munday in the Times Online, "just as they are in Britain." The terrorists were successful because they didn't obey the gun control law rooted in the Raj, while their victims did.
India isn't alone. Many countries, including Canada, have gone out of their way to make criminals as invincible and victims as vulnerable as possible. This isn't the aim, of course, only the result.
"Guns don't kill, people do." The gun lobby's old slogan is true enough, but it's also true that guns make people more efficient killers. That's why gun control would be such a splendid idea if someone could find a way to make criminals and lunatics obey it. Since only law-abiding citizens obey it, it's not such a hot idea. It's more like trying to control stray dogs by neutering veterinarians.
The police carry guns for a reason: They're great tools for law enforcement. No doubt, guns make criminals more efficient, but they make crime fighters more efficient, too. Letting firearms become the monopoly of lawbreakers, far from enhancing public safety, is detrimental to it. What you want is more armed people, not fewer, on the side of the law. It would be hard to imagine a Mumbai-type atrocity in Dodge City -- or in Edwardian Europe, for that matter, where gentlemen routinely carried handguns for protection.
Some regard carrying guns uncivilized. I'd hesitate to call an era of legal guns in the hands of Edwardian gentlemen less civilized--or less safe -- than our own era of illegal guns in the hands of drug dealers and terrorists. The civilized place was turn-of-the century London, where citizens carried guns and the police didn't. In any event, a constitutional guarantee to one's "security of person" shouldn't depend on how fast a 911 operator can pick up the phone.
Society needs crime control, not gun control. Munday writes that "violent crime in America has plummeted" in the past two decades after the majority of states enacted "right to carry" legislation and issued permits to carry concealed weapons to citizens of good repute. I think there were many reasons for the decline, but "right to carry" certainly wasn't detrimental to it.
There are Second Amendment absolutists in America, and libertarians elsewhere, who regard a person's birthright to own/carry a firearm beyond the state's power to regulate. I'm not one of them. I think it's reasonable for communities to set thresholds of age, proficiency, legal status, etc., for the possession of lethal weapons, just as they set standards for the operation of motor vehicles, airplanes and ham radios. But it seems to me that, within common sense perimeters, you'd want to enhance, not diminish, the defensive capacity of the good guys, and increase rather than decrease the number of auxiliary crime-fighters who are available to be deputized when the bad guys start climbing over the fence.
Munday quotes no less an advocate of non-violence than Mahatma Gandhi on the imperial decree of the Indian Arms Act of 1878 that laid the foundation for the defencelessness of the victims of the Mumbai massacre 130 years later. "Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India," said the Mahatma, "history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest."
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=4a451ee5-71c3-4f29-a826-3260fb1eaaa1
08/12/12 Confiscating toy guns part of US mission in Iraq
MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq – Two boys approached a U.S. soldier, pulled out a pistol and handed it over. They got a smile and some candy in return.
The gun was plastic, and the boys were following a local Iraqi military order to surrender all toy weapons — an effort to prevent children from being mistaken for insurgents.
With more children on the streets now that violence is down, American soldiers have a new mission in this former "triangle of death" city south of Baghdad: clearing all toy guns from the bustling shopping area as they search for suspected insurgents and weapons caches.
The toy gun ban shows how jittery the U.S. and Iraqi forces still are in a country where the enemy doesn't wear a uniform.
The U.S. warned early this year of a "disturbing trend" of al-Qaida in Iraq recruiting and teaching young boys to kidnap and kill. The military released several videos seized from suspected al-Qaida hideouts in Diyala province north of the capital showing militants training children who appeared as young as 10.
Teenagers have also carried out actual attacks. On Dec. 1, a teenage suicide bomber followed by a parked car bomb struck police recruits in Baghdad, killing 16 people. On Jan. 20, a teenager carrying a box of candy blew himself up at a gathering of tribal members near Fallujah, killing six people.
From a distance, a soldier can't tell whether the weapon is real and has to make a fast decision that could cost someone his or her life.
Soldiers in the Mahmoudiya area recently became alarmed when they saw a boy pointing a gun that looked very realistic. They went on alert and held the child until it was determined that the gun was a toy.
"This is one of the biggest issues that we're encountering right now," said Lt. Cameron Mays, 24, of Marion, Ky. "Right now it's a gray area. You're talking about a prime situation where a U.S. soldier has a split-second to make a decision about whether there's a danger."
The order to ban toy guns in Mahmoudiya and surrounding areas was handed down by Staff Maj. Gen. Ali Jassim al-Freiji, the commander of the Iraqi army's 17th Division, which oversees the region.
1st Lt. Tray Marsh, who took the plastic pistol, congratulated the boys for doing the right thing as he and other U.S. soldiers began a joint foot patrol with their Iraqi counterparts through the city's main market area on Wednesday. The gun was black and had a red cap.
Members of Delta Company, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, based in Fort Riley, Kan., have collected some 15 plastic weapons in the past two weeks, piling them up on filing cabinets and hanging some on the walls in their office at the U.S. base at Mahmoudiya.
Marsh, 34, of Shreveport, La., later showed another gun from the plastic weapons cache that could easily be mistaken for a real nickel-plated .45-caliber pistol from a distance.
There's no punishment for having a toy gun. The soldiers will just take them away if they find them and perhaps talk to the parents to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Going after toys is somewhat of a welcome change for the soldiers — many of whom are on at least their second tour in Iraq and participated in the fierce fighting that raged as recently as this spring. Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of the capital, is part of a region that was long known as the "triangle of death" because of ongoing battles between Sunni and Shiite extremists.
British soldiers in the southern Iraqi province of Basra have also become concerned about children playing with toy guns, although no ban has been imposed.
The British military issued a public safety announcement on Friday asking parents not to allow their children to play with toy guns on the streets "in case security forces mistake them for real weapons and open fire."
Maj. Bill Young, a British military spokesman, said the issue was coming up for the first time since the war started nearly six years ago — perhaps because of a possible influx of toy guns or because better security is encouraging people to spend more time outdoors.
"Maybe last year children wouldn't have been out on the ground and their parents wouldn't have let them play with the toy guns," he said. "But there is still a risk with a significant number of British and Iraqi troops on the ground with weapons."
Military officials said it was up to Iraqi authorities to impose such bans as part of local security measures. Iraq has no law forbidding ownership of real guns, and every household is permitted to have one firearm for self defense.
But nobody likes to see a child cry — and even battle-weary soldiers have a soft spot.
Mays stopped short during Wednesday's market tour after getting a call on his radio about the latest discovery, then doubled back to the soldiers hovering around the toddler cradling the toy gun.
Iraqi company commander 1st Lt. Mouwaffak Mohammed al-Janabi talked his American counterpart into letting the boy keep the toy, saying his father had been killed by an insurgent.
"OK, but that's the last time. We've got to support Gen. Ali's orders," Mays said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_toy_guns
08/12/11 Arming India Against Terrorism
Relaxing gun control laws would be a good start.
For three bloody days, just 10 determined killers held a city of 18 million hostage. The sheer ignominy of this fact has jolted Mumbaikars -- and Indians -- out of their fabled chalta hai (anything goes) attitude, and into a burst of citizen activism. Even Mumbai's business community has shed its habitual political timidity and filed an extraordinary public-interest lawsuit demanding that the government fulfill its constitutional obligation to protect its citizens.
But Indians shouldn't just stop there. They should also demand reform of the country's draconian gun laws -- a holdover from British times -- that prevent them from defending themselves. That would surely deliver far quicker results than waiting for India's slow-moving political classes to plug the vast lacunae in the country's security apparatus.
After all, what was particularly infuriating about the Mumbai attacks was not just that the Indian government failed to prevent them, even though it had received repeated warnings. Nor was it their tragic death toll; Mumbai, after all, experienced worse in the coordinated series of bombings in 1993 and 2006. Rather, it was that had there been anything resembling meaningful resistance, the attackers never would have been able to stage the kind of spectacle they did. Before they holed up in the Taj and Oberoi Hotels, they seemed to operate with almost complete impunity, freely moving from one target to another.
The same duo that opened fire at Café Leopold -- among the first targets -- managed to escape undetected and join their comrades at the Taj Mahal Hotel -- a few miles away -- before the police could even catch their breath. Likewise, the pair that attacked Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus subsequently hopped over to Cama Hospital, where they killed three top antiterrorism officials, hijacked the officials' van and sped away -- shooting at onlookers the whole time. And while at the Terminus -- named, ironically enough, after a fearless Maratha warrior-king -- the two gunmen marched up and down the station emptying their machine guns into commuters as the police stood by paralyzed, bolt-action rifles and lathis (bamboo sticks) in hand.
The true problem was not a shortage of heroism in those three horrible days. The courageous staff at the two hotels was nothing if not heroic, likely saving as many people as the police watched being killed. At the Taj, one employee even took the bullets for a group of guests he was trying to escort to safety.
But if the hotel staff could take bullets, the question is why couldn't they return them? The reason, as P.R.S. Oberoi, chairman of Oberoi Group, noted, is that none of the hotel's security staff was armed, thanks to the country's strict gun laws that make it virtually impossible to obtain permits. This is also perhaps why the gunmen moved around the city as if they owned it without fearing that anyone would shoot back.
India's gun laws have their genesis in colonial policy when -- following the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny -- British authorities drastically restricted gun ownership. So notorious were these laws that even the great apostle of nonviolence Mahatma Gandhi condemned them. "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest," he said.
Although the Indian government repealed these laws after Independence, it replaced them with ones almost equally hostile toward its citizens in 1959. It created a new licensing authority and gave it virtual carte blanche to deny permits. It also restricted private manufacturing to primitive munitions that no one wanted while subsequently banning imports, all of which has made guns prohibitively expensive.
The consequence is that India has among the lowest gun ownership rates in the world -- four guns per 100 residents, according to estimates by Martin Killias and his colleagues at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. By contrast, the U.S. has a rate of 90 per 100; Canada, 31.5; Thailand, 16; and Pakistan, 12. But the most relevant comparison might be with Israel -- another country facing a chronic terrorist threat -- where 15% of adults carry concealed handguns, according to John Lott of University of Maryland.
One of the big obstacles to gun liberalization in India is the fear that more guns will lead to more violence, given that India is a tinder box of sectarian tensions ready to erupt at the slightest provocation. In fact, more gun ownership -- especially by India's minorities -- might have a deterrent effect. But India could at least begin by relaxing gun laws for business establishments -- malls, hotels, corporate offices -- that are particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. These businesses could be allowed to acquire state-of-the-art weapons. In exchange, they could be held accountable for whom they entrust with the weapons and how they are deployed, creating an incentive for them to conduct their own background checks. Such a policy would not only make it easier for businesses to defend themselves, but it would also allow the government to direct more security resources toward airports, train stations, bus terminals and other public infrastructure that only it can defend.
No open society can completely protect itself against all acts of terrorism. Security resources are always finite and the potential terrorist targets always infinite. But India's government surely can do a better job of protecting its citizens. Ultimately Indians can't count on their government alone. They need to also reserve the right -- and the means -- to defend themselves.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877201598989093.html
08/12/11 Knife crime 'victory', but Tories say penalties still too soft
Government figures showing that stabbings are falling in areas targeted by a police crackdown were today dampened down by critics who claimed those being caught with knives were merely being given a "slap on the wrist".
Figures from knife crime hotspots, where police increased the use of stop and search, revealed that the number of young people admitted to hospital with stab wounds fell more than a quarter between July and September compared to last year.
The number of serious injuries and deaths among young people in the same period fell by nearly a fifth.
While parties throughout the political spectrum welcomed the results of the Home Office's ten Tackling Knives Action Programme areas, the Tories criticised the penalties given to those caught with knives.
“We deeply welcome any reduction in knife crime, but this has come about because police officers have been focused on the street — something we have long called for," Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Home Secretary, said.
“However, this has been done through ad hoc, regionally focused operations. The Government have done this before only to revert to type once they got some good statistics. Short-term measures will only achieve short-term results.
“We need concerted and tough action in the short, medium and long term. As well as deploying more police on to every street for good, knife offenders must face an automatic presumption of jail, not a slap on the wrist.”
The Government said that the operation in the ten designated action areas had led to fewer young people being caught with knives — down from one in 30 to one in 65.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said that police carried out 105,000 searches for weapons between June and October and seized 2,200 weapons.
The crackdown followed a string of high-profile stabbings of young people during the summer. In Britain this year, 34 teenagers have died from stab wounds, with 23 of those in London.
The areas involved in the crackdown were London, Essex, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, South Wales and Thames Valley.
Ms Smith said that the Government would learn from the results of its campaign. “The forces that we focused on are those where nearly 80 per cent of knife crime actually happens," she told the BBC. “We chose the areas where we were going to make the most difference and we have seen that having an impact.
“But we do want to learn from what’s happened in these areas, continue it there and make sure that other forces can benefit from it.”
Responding to Tory complaints that those found with a knife were being let off too lightly, Justice Minister David Hanson MP said: “No-one should be in any doubt of the consequences of carrying a knife. If you do so, you are now much more likely to get caught. When you're caught, you're more likely to be prosecuted. And if found guilty, you're more likely to go to prison.
“The Government is serious about tackling knife crime – anyone over the age of 16 caught in possession of a knife can expect to be prosecuted on the first offence and we’ve doubled the maximum sentence for carrying a knife from two to four years. More people are being jailed for carrying a knife than a year ago.
“Sentencing is a matter for the courts and they should have a range of disposals available to them for individual cases. The Sentencing Guidelines Council guidelines are clear – the starting point for the lowest level of knife possession should be 12 weeks in jail.
“The Government agrees wholeheartedly with the Lord Chief Justice Sir Igor Judge who said that knife crime is a serious offence and should be treated by the courts as such."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5324396.ece
08/12/10 '95 case could prompt mayoral veto of gun measure
A 13-year-old settlement between a gun club and Pittsburgh officials could be a factor in whether Mayor Luke Ravenstahl vetoes legislation that would penalize gun owners who don't promptly report lost or stolen weapons.
The Allegheny County Sportsmen's League agreed in 1995 to drop a lawsuit challenging a city ordinance banning assault weapons in exchange for an agreement signed by former City Solicitor Howard J. Shulberg. The agreement says the city would abide by state Act 85, which regulates firearms.
The state law prohibits cities from regulating "lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms."
That restriction is the focus of gun rights activists who argue that state law overrides legislation that City Council adopted Dec. 2 in a 6-1 vote. The bill calls for fining gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours -- up to $500 for the first offense and up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail for subsequent offenses.
City Solicitor George Specter was not aware of the agreement until the Tribune-Review brought it to Ravenstahl's attention. Specter is reviewing it to determine whether it would require Ravenstahl to veto the legislation.
"I'm not sure if this case is conclusive on this question, but it's indicative of the history of this whole issue," which Specter said has been marked by uncertainty over whether state gun laws supersede those of municipalities.
University of Pittsburgh professor Arthur D. Hellman said the sportsmen's league case appears to set a precedent.
"It's hard for me to see how this ordinance can escape the pre-emptive force of the state law," Hellman said. "Especially if there's a decision on the books that affirms it."
Hellman said the settlement between the gun club and the city would be a valuable tool for Second Amendment activists seeking to challenge the lost-or-stolen-gun ordinance in court.
In addition, Commonwealth Court ruled Sept. 26 that the Legislature alone governs guns laws. Two Philadelphia council members appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court in an attempt to uphold a similar lost-or-stolen-gun law their council passed.
If Ravenstahl vetoes the bill, Specter expects City Council to override the veto, "and we'll end up in court anyway."
Ravenstahl has until Monday to decide whether to allow the ordinance to pass into law, sign it or veto it.
As for the 1995 settlement between the gun club and the city, Specter said, "We're going to get hit with this. You know it's going to be brought up, and we'll have to deal with it at that time."
Lawyer Jana Finder, a Pittsburgh-based coordinator for gun control group CeaseFirePA, doubts the settlement would be a factor.
"A settlement is not precedential in terms of court cases. It doesn't work that way," Finder said.
She said there's a difference between City Council's 1993 vote to ban assault weapons -- ahead of the 1994 federal ban on such weapons -- and penalties for people who don't report lost or stolen weapons.
"That was about assault weapons. I believe this issue is distinguishable," Finder said. "We're talking about illegal handguns."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_602272.html
08/12/10 Targeting crime: Citizens can curb the epidemic of violence
The media has a huge influence on the general public, but unfortunately it often abandons common sense and ignores its responsibility to present facts.
On Nov. 30th, your paper printed an editorial entitled, “The gun epidemic ... too many are on the streets, with deadly results.” The editorial states, “Gun rights advocates claim that criminals would be deterred if more ‘law abiding citizens’ carried a concealed handgun. The problem is that today’s law-abiding citizen can easily become tomorrow’s enraged killer.” The facts bear out quite the opposite.
You also wrote, “Violence has become the first, not the last, resort.” You based this on your supposition that the Internet, TV, movies, etc., have desensitized people to the consequences of violence. Again, you provided no facts to support your claim. Your editorial concludes: “Putting more guns on the street is not the answer [to the epidemic of violence]. That would only result in more fistfights turning into gunfights.”
Statistics suggest otherwise. You used the recent shootings outside a Warminster bar by a street punk as empirical evidence. That example doesn’t even vaguely resemble the behavior of law abiding citizens — even when they are provoked.
While registrations for gun permits and transfers increased steadily since the 1990s, to over 8 million annually by 2004, violence in the United States has substantially declined. In 1993, there was a peak in U.S. violent crimes committed with firearms: over 225 incidents per 100,000 people. Of this, 6.6 were murders and 108 were aggravated assaults, again per 100,000.
In 2006 these figures were 130, 3.9 and 63, respectively, for a reduction exceeding 40 percent in each category. Additionally, total property crime in the United States (includes burglary and theft) decreased 72 percent between 1975 and 2005, from 554 incidents per 1,000 households to 154.
In 1986, nine states had right-tocarry laws. By 1998, 31 states adopted right-to-carry laws; half of the U.S. population lives in these states. It sure seems like crime reduces as more citizens carry firearms. Only a coincidence? In 1987, Florida adopted a right-to-carry law. Between 1987 and 1996, the homicide rate with handguns reduced 36 percent in Florida, compared to a 24 percent increase nationally.
To address concerns about citizens with permits to carry a concealed weapon causing an increase in violence, the Dade County, Fla. Police began a program to record all arrest and non-arrest incidents involving concealed carry licensees. Between September 1987 and August 1992, they recorded four crimes committed by licensees (none resulted in injury). They abandoned the program in 1992 because there were not enough incidents to justify tracking them. In Florida, you are twice as likely to be attacked by an alligator than by the holder of a concealed carry permit (and in the latter case, it would probably be because you were committing a violent crime).
In today’s political climate, elitists who know what is good for us seem to distrust the citizens more than they fear rapists and murderers. After all, they let outlaws vote illegally and they make it difficult to require voters to produce a photo ID at the polls. Elitists may hate guns, but if it were not for guns, many people would not be alive to whine about guns or elitists.
I choose to be prepared. It is irresponsible for me to accept defenselessness; I choose to take an active role in my preservation, rather than to rely on others to do it for me. A common saying among police officers is, “When you need help in seconds, we’re only minutes away.”
Sources: The Bureau of Justice Statistics, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/guns.htm; also, www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp.
PETER LACHANCE, Lower Makefield, is a businessman and patriot.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/322-12102008-1635567.html
08/12/10 Arrests, drugs, guns in N.J. crackdown
TRENTON - Authorities in New Jersey converged on almost every county in the state over the last six months to shut down violent gangs, curtail illegal drug sales and get guns off the streets.
Yesterday, law-enforcement officials converged on the state capital to offer up some big numbers as a result of the county takedowns and to reiterate that their job isn't finished.
"Let me put the drug dealers and the gun traffickers on notice: We are in this for the long haul," Attorney General Anne Milgram said at a morning news conference.
The operation, part of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's "Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods," has resulted in the arrest of 1,844 on charges that include murder and drug trafficking.
Many suspects had ties to the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, MS-13 and Nietas, historically the largest organized gangs in the state, authorities said.
The operation also confiscated more than $4 million in illegal drugs, $857,769 in cash, and 162 weapons.
The two largest efforts, Milgram said, were in the city of Camden and in rural Salem County, where 249 suspects were arrested, most of those in the town of Salem.
Camden's takedown netted 306 arrests, from drug buyers to violent gang members - and even a female police dispatcher accused of conspiracy to commit murder.
In Camden, where local gangs intermingle with larger organizations like the Bloods, taking so many criminals, guns and drugs off the streets could stir more violence as others try to fill the ranks, authorities said.
"We definitely don't want to create a vacuum," said Josh Ottenberg, Camden County acting first assistant prosecutor. "People will try to come in and take control. We've been particularly careful about that."
Camden's homicide rate, which was on a record pace in the summer, has slowed in recent months. Last Wednesday, a 20-year-old city man was shot dead in daylight in a neighborhood known for drugs. That was the 48th homicide this year in Camden.
Statewide, Milgram said, violent crimes continue to drop, as they did last year. In the first nine months of 2008, overall violent crime in the state dropped by 7 percent.
Milgram said that violent gang members have two options in New Jersey - prison or death. But she said that the state is working on prevention programs for children and more comprehensive re-entry programs to curb recidivism.
"It will be a constant and continuous fight," Milgram said.
Matthew Horace, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive's special agent in charge in New Jersey, said that because of the state's strict gun laws, there's a good chance that the 162 weapons, which included 22 assault weapons, had not come from within the state.
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/35853614.html
08/12/10 Controversy Erupts Over School Proposal to Teach Kids to Fight Back Against Gunmen
A proposal to teach children as young as 10 years old to fight back against a classroom gunman is causing quite a stir in a small town in Massachusetts.
The Georgetown Public Schools in Georgetown, Mass., are considering a proposal to teach kids to fend off a gunman with backpacks or textbooks as part of a proposal to revamp their "Code Blue" safety policy.
Those who support the idea say it may seem extreme, but it could save a child's life.
Georgetown Police Chief James E. Mulligan told FOXNews.com the proposed technique was intended to be a "last ditch" thing to be used in cases where a gunman has been able to thwart police and get inside a classroom alone with students.
But others think the last thing you want to teach young kids is how to fight off an intruder with a gun.
"To put that expectation on young, emotional, scared, frightened children is really a slippery slope," says Kenneth Trump, the president of National School Safety and Security Services. "It has a high risk and higher probability of escalating a situation than it would to neutralize the situation."
The controversy began when the district's school resource officer, Derek Jones, proposed the training in a memo after hearing it had been used in schools in Florida.
"[He] was starting the conversation with us to say, well, ‘Do we want the kids to sit there and literally have the gunman be able to shoot them one at a time? Or do we want to allow instincts to kick in and basically allow them to protect themselves against the threat?'" Carol Jacobs, the district superintendent, told FOXNews.com.
"It might include using a book or hiding behind a backpack or something, some kind of shield."
Jacobs said the proposal to teach kids in fifth grade and up how to ward off armed attackers in a worst-case scenario created some concern among administrators.
"We had immediate discomfort with all of this because it’s not the way we’ve thought about it in the past, and also, we worry a little bit more about the liability of all of this," she said.
Jones' memo was intended only for school officials updating the school safety policy in Georgetown, a coastal community north of Boston, but it was leaked to the media before the district's safety committee could even discuss it, leading to concern among parents.
"A lot of kids come from unsafe places at home, and school is their only haven, you know, and for them to come into school and have to think about that stuff I think can be scary," parent Hope Carter told MyFOXBoston.com.
Barbie Linares, who has three children in the district, including a 10-year-old, said she has confidence in how the school administration deals with proposals.
"If it was going to be implemented, I would hope that it would be implemented in, say, fifth grade and above, or middle school and above," she told FOXNews.com. "I do think that it would be better off with the older kids."
Trump said it makes more sense to train school staff to deal with a gunman.
"We’re asking them to make some quite serious judgments that even trained adults are challenged to make," he said. "I think that’s an unrealistic and highly risky expectation and burden to put on kids."
Current policy, Mulligan said, is on par with districts across the country, allowing police to enter a school in lockdown and engage an attacker "to minimize the harm to children and staff in the school."
Officials say the Georgetown community is safe. The only recent activity was an unfounded bomb threat six months ago that lead to a school evacuation.
The safety committee plans to discuss the Code Blue proposals on Thursday.
"The intention here is just to make sure that we are always on the cutting edge of what we need to do to keep our kids safe and obviously to learn from lessons of tragedies in other places," Jacobs said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,464848,00.html
08/12/09 Woman Charged In Agent's Death Appeared In Court
The woman accused of killing an FBI agent during a drug raid in Indiana Township appeared in federal court.
Christina Korbe gave the judge simple one-word answers in a courtroom that was packed, including the U.S. Attorney and head of the FBI office in Pittsburgh.
"It seems similar to a case I had last year involving the state police," defense attorney John Elash said. "I would hope we that wouldn't have a hundred FBI agents in the courtroom everyday like we had a hundred state troopers everyday.
"However, I could see and I could fully understand and I could feel for the loss of a friend, of a co-worker, of a fellow agent, but I … you have to understand that there are times when justified actions occur and people die," Elash added.
Korbe is accused of fatally shooting special agent Samuel Hicks in November. He was trying to serve a warrant on her husband.
Police say they announced repeatedly, "police" outside the family's home but Korbe insists she thought it was an intruder at her door.
"Obviously it's self-defense or defense of others," Elash said. "In the others that she's defending are her five and 10-year-old that were with her when she was on … 911 making the call to police that someone had broken into her house."
Korbe has a detention hearing set for Monday, with hopes of getting out to be with the two small children she says she was trying to protect that fateful morning.
"She's not a violent person. She's 40 years of age, has no prior criminal record, has no history of violence, had permission to carry a firearm for her own protection," Elash said.
According to court papers, Korbe was arrested in 1991 on drug-related charges, but she was not prosecuted in that case.
http://kdka.com/local/Korbe.FBI.murder.2.883214.html
08/12/09 Record haul in LA gun-gifts swap
A scheme run by Los Angeles police to encourage people to hand over weapons in exchange for shopping vouchers has taken in a record haul this year.
Police running the gun amnesty in Compton, in south Los Angeles county, say they collected 965 weapons, well up on the 387 guns surrendered in 2007.
Officers say the economic downturn may be behind the increase.
The scheme allows people to hand in weapons anonymously in return for gift cards worth at least $100 (£67).
The Los Angeles sheriff's department began the gun-swap scheme in 2005 after a spate of gun violence in Compton, a city south of Los Angeles, in a bid to crack down on crime in the area .
Since the annual amnesty began, Compton has seen a fall in gun crime but this year's haul was a record.
Among the weapons handed in during last weekend's event were a Soviet-era semi-automatic carbine and two hand grenades, local media reported.
Food on the table
A gun could be swapped for a $100 voucher, while an assault weapon would net $200.
The most popular vouchers were for a supermarket chain, police said.
"People just don't have the money to buy the food these days," said Sergeant Byron Woods.
"One guy said he had just got laid off from his job," Sgt Woods said.
"He turned in five guns and said it would really help him to put food on the family's table."
Most of the weapons collected belonged to people who had never used them.
"We're not naive enough to think that criminals will come in and give their guns," Deputy Tim Tellez, who ran this year's amnesty, told the Los Angeles Times. But he said the scheme would help to get guns off the street.
Police will check all the weapons to see if they have been used in crimes before destroying them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7773089.stm
08/12/08 Obama: Don't stock up on guns
As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month.
"I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the second amendment," Obama said at a news conference. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the transition. I think people can take me at my word."
But National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said it's not Obama's words — but his legislative track record — that has gun-buyers flocking to the stores.
"Prior to his campaign for president, his record as a state legislator and as a U.S. Senator shows he voted for the most stringent forms of gun control, the most Draconian legislation, gun bans, ammunition bans and even an increase in federal excise taxes up to 500 percent for every gun and firearm sold," Arulanandam said.
Obama answered "yes" in 1996 to a questionnaire from an Illinois group on whether he supported a handgun ban. But he later said a staffer filled out that answer and he did not support a ban.
Nationally, background checks for gun purchases jumped nearly 49 percent during the week Obama was elected, compared with the same time period last year, according to the FBI's National Instant Background Check System.
Anecdotally, gun dealers around the country have reported spikes in sales. The Illinois State Rifle Association Reports gun sales for November were 38 percent higher than last year.
"We don't dispute [the gun sales hike] because the numbers from the federal system certainly confirm that there is increased activity out there. We just think it's a bit stupid," said Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign against Gun Violence.
"Anyone who thinks they need to rush out and buy a firearm clearly has not been paying attention to how quickly we make progress on this issue. We don't think these are first-time buyers. We think they are people who already have more than enough guns at their homes to protect themselves and are buying more." http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1318968,obama-gun-sales-up-120808.article?plckCurrentPage=0&sid=sitelife.suntimes.com
08/12/07 Athletes like Burress say they have plenty to fear
New York Giant Plaxico Burress, hoping to save his career and avoid a prison term, may contend that fear drove him to carry a pistol without the proper permit.
Mr. Burress, 31, has been a crime victim and a friend of other professional athletes who were killed or accosted by armed robbers.
Three men burglarized Mr. Burress' Pittsburgh home when he played for the Steelers, taking $65,000 in cash and jewelry. An intruder murdered Mr. Burress' workout partner, Sean Taylor, of the Washington Redskins, in 2007. Then, late last month, a robber stuck a gun in the face of Mr. Burress' teammate, Giants receiver Steve Smith, outside a gated condominium complex.
None of these brazen crimes justifies Mr. Burress' failure to obtain a permit for a concealed weapon, but they show that wealthy, powerful professional athletes can be vulnerable to thugs.
"You've got to realize that we're targets and easy targets at that," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior, who declined to say whether he owns a gun.
Though fellow players may be sympathetic with Mr. Burress, the legal system probably will not be. New York's gun law is one of the most unforgiving in the country. Mr. Burress would have to serve at least 3 1/2 years in prison if he is convicted of carrying a firearm without a permit.
Mr. Smith, his teammate on the Giants, was robbed days before Mr. Burress accidentally shot himself in the right thigh at a Manhattan nightclub.
Pittsburgh-based agent Ralph E. Cindrich, who represents Mr. Smith, said he could not discuss the robbery case because it involves his client.
But Mr. Cindrich, of DeBartolo Sports & Entertainment, said his practice is to dissuade all his clients from carrying guns. He also represents Mr. Farrior and some three dozen other pro athletes.
"Some drunk wants to test you or maybe sue you, so he looks for a fight. Guns can only escalate those situations," Mr. Cindrich said.
Ward: Guns a bad idea
Hines Ward, a wide receiver with the Steelers, said he had reached the same conclusion.
"There's a lot of guys probably on this team and in this league who probably do have guns, maybe in their own homes for protection. But when you carry it on the street, I don think there's anything good that can come of it," Mr. Ward said.
If Mr. Cindrich's clients insist on arming themselves, he makes them aware of the laws for obtaining a permit. He said he also advises these players to undergo training in handgun use and safety.
Critics of Mr. Burress, such as former Dallas Cowboy Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, wonder why he never obtained a concealed-carry permit for his handgun.
"I have no problem with law-abiding players exercising their Second Amendment rights," Mr. Henderson said in an interview. "But if you're going to possess a firearm, get the permit. You're grown men, most of you don't have felonies on your record, so be responsible about it."
Mr. Henderson, 55, ran afoul of the law several times after cocaine use wrecked his career. Clean for 25 years, he is remembered as one of the National Football League's most promising and cockiest linebackers of the 1970s.
During his playing days, Mr. Henderson said, he received a number of death threats. But he never armed himself, nor did he know of any other players who carried guns.
The times, of course, were different. ESPN and the Internet had not emerged as media forces that gave the public nonstop information about athletes and their personal habits. In addition, gun laws were more restrictive, so few people could legally carry handguns.
Many state legislatures in the 1980s and '90s liberalized the laws so law-abiding citizens could carry concealed handguns for protection.
Even some of the biggest athletes, such as basketball's 7-foot-1, 340-pound Shaquille O'Neal, have availed themselves of the permit system so they can carry concealed handguns.
Allegheny County Sheriff William P. Mullen, who administers 12,000 applications a year, would not discuss how many professional athletes have received firearm permits.
Mr. Henderson said only one explanation fits Mr. Burress' decision to carry a loaded firearm without going through the permit process in New York.
"For him to put a pistol in his pocket and bring it to a club, he must be scared to death. What he did represents stone-cold fear," Mr. Henderson said.
Memories of break-in
Mr. Burress has occasionally spoken publicly of what it was like to be a crime victim in Pittsburgh, a bad memory that lingers.
Three intruders broke into his townhouse on Washington's Landing while he was at a game in Buffalo in January 2005. The woman who was then Mr. Burress' fiancee and is now his wife happened to leave for the drugstore before the thieves barged in.
Later, after signing with the Giants, Mr. Burress told the New York Daily News he would make certain they were not victimized again.
"I tell my wife always to make sure the alarm is on when she is home by herself. I'm always taking care of myself. Some things you may get in trouble for, but, hey, you've got to do what you've got to do these days. If it comes down to me protecting myself and my family, I am going to do anything."
Because Mr. Burress' alleged handgun crime occurred in New York in a cycle of 24-hour media coverage, he is taking more heat than other pro athletes or coaches have in the past.
Reggie Harding, a 7-footer who played in the National Basketball Association in the 1960s, carried a gun in his gym bag. Residents of his Detroit neighborhood swore that Mr. Harding once tried to pull an armed robbery at a liquor store. The crime fizzled because his size made him instantly recognizable, even in a mask. Somebody shot Mr. Harding dead on a Detroit street corner in 1972.
Barry Switzer tried to take a .38-caliber handgun through airport security when he was head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He survived the initial outcry, saying he had made a careless mistake, but resigned after his team finished the 1997 season with a losing record.
The behavior of former Steeler Ernie Holmes was much worse than anything Mr. Burress did, yet team executives backed him after his arrest on three charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Mr. Holmes fired a rifle and a pistol at truckers and police officers as he drove along the Ohio Turnpike. When a police helicopter swooped in, he shot the pilot, a sergeant with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, wounding him above the right ankle.
Mr. Holmes pleaded guilty, then received the lightest possible punishment. Common Pleas Judge Sidney Rigelhaupt, of Youngstown, Ohio, placed him on probation for five years.
"Nothing can be gained by incarcerating the defendant. I am sure he has been punished more than enough by his own regret," Judge Rigelhaupt said in handing down his ruling in June 1973, just three months after Mr. Holmes' shooting rampage.
Newspapers, including the ones in Pittsburgh, buried coverage of Mr. Holmes' case on their inside pages. Today, it is difficult to imagine how a Steeler who shot a policeman was able to go on with his career.
The Steelers had a job waiting for Mr. Holmes as soon as he walked out of the courtroom a free man. Then 24, he was ready to become a starter on the defensive line. Mr. Holmes went on to play on two Super Bowl winners as a member of the famed Steel Curtain.
He was nicknamed "Fats," but in photos taken the day of the shootings, Mr. Holmes looked lean and powerful. After surrendering, he told police that he was distraught over a breakup with his wife, Geraldine.
In court, his excuse changed. He did not plead insanity, but a psychologist employed by the defense team said Mr. Holmes had been unable to distinguish what was real from what was not.
This year, after Mr. Holmes died at age 59 in car crash, Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney gave another explanation for the shootings. He said Mr. Holmes' heavy intake of caffeine had caused him to hallucinate. This last excuse was a version of "The Twinkie Defense," in which violent felons of the 1980s attributed their crimes to excessive sugar in their diets.
The fact that Mr. Burress appears to be in more trouble than Mr. Holmes was shows how much the times and the scrutiny of professional athletes have changed.
Given the climate, Mr. Farrior, the Steelers linebacker, said players have to exercise an abundance of common sense.
"If you want to go someplace where you have to carry a gun, you probably shouldn't go," he said.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08342/933396-84.stm
08/12/07 Think tank: If each of us carried a gun . . .we could help to combat terrorism
The firearms massacres that have periodically caused shock and horror around the world have been dwarfed by the Mumbai shootings, in which a handful of gunmen left some 500 people killed or wounded.
For anybody who still believed in it, the Mumbai shootings exposed the myth of “gun control”. India had some of the strictest firearms laws in the world, going back to the Indian Arms Act of 1878, by which Britain had sought to prevent a recurrence of the Indian Mutiny.
The guns used in last week’s Bombay massacre were all “prohibited weapons” under Indian law, just as they are in Britain. In this country we have seen the irrelevance of such bans (handgun crime, for instance, doubled here within five years of the prohibition of legal pistol ownership), but the largely drug-related nature of most extreme violence here has left most of us with a sheltered awareness of the threat. We have not yet faced a determined and broad-based attack.
The Mumbai massacre also exposed the myth that arming the police force guarantees security. Sebastian D’Souza, a picture editor on the Mumbai Mirror who took some of the dramatic pictures of the assault on the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, was angered to find India’s armed police taking cover and apparently failing to engage the gunmen.
In Britain we might recall the prolonged failure of armed police to contain the Hungerford killer, whose rampage lasted more than four hours, and who in the end shot himself. In Dunblane, too, it was the killer who ended his own life: even at best, police response is almost always belated when gunmen are on the loose. One might think, too, of the McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro, California, in 1984, where the Swat team waited for their leader (who was held up in a traffic jam) while 21 unarmed diners were murdered.
Rhetoric about standing firm against terrorists aside, in Britain we have no more legal deterrent to prevent an armed assault than did the people of Mumbai, and individually we would be just as helpless as victims. The Mumbai massacre could happen in London tomorrow; but probably it could not have happened to Londoners 100 years ago.
In January 1909 two such anarchists, lately come from an attempt to blow up the president of France, tried to commit a robbery in north London, armed with automatic pistols. Edwardian Londoners, however, shot back – and the anarchists were pursued through the streets by a spontaneous hue-and-cry. The police, who could not find the key to their own gun cupboard, borrowed at least four pistols from passers-by, while other citizens armed with revolvers and shotguns preferred to use their weapons themselves to bring the assailants down.
Today we are probably more shocked at the idea of so many ordinary Londoners carrying guns in the street than we are at the idea of an armed robbery. But the world of Conan Doyle’s Dr Watson, pocketing his revolver before he walked the London streets, was real. The arming of the populace guaranteed rather than disturbed the peace.
That armed England existed within living memory; but it is now so alien to our expectations that it has become a foreign country. Our image of an armed society is conditioned instead by America: or by what we imagine we know about America. It is a skewed image, because (despite the Second Amendment) until recently in much of the US it has been illegal to bear arms outside the home or workplace; and therefore only people willing to defy the law have carried weapons.
In the past two decades the enactment of “right to carry” legislation in the majority of states, and the issue of permits for the carrying of concealed firearms to citizens of good repute, has brought a radical change. Opponents of the right to bear arms predicted that right to carry would cause blood to flow in the streets, but the reverse has been true: violent crime in America has plummeted.
There are exceptions: Virginia Tech, the site of the 2007 massacre of 32 people, was one local “gun-free zone” that forbade the bearing of arms even to those with a licence to carry.
In Britain we are not yet ready to recall the final liberty of the subject listed by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England as underpinning all others: “The right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defence.” We would still not be ready to do so were the Mumbai massacre to happen in London tomorrow.
“Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India,” Mahatma Gandhi said, “history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.” The Mumbai massacre is a bitter postscript to Gandhi’s comment. D’Souza now laments his own helplessness in the face of the killers: “I only wish I had had a gun rather than a camera.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article5299010.ece
08/12/05 Don't Take Your Guns to Town
"As President, I will uphold the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun-owners, hunters, and sportsmen. I know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne." That was Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on June 26, 2008, responding to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which struck down Washington, DC's draconian handgun ban and held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms—not a collective one.
"I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals," Obama went on, "but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures."
While it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of the decision, Obama's statement was an improvement over his previous equivocations. But that line about Chicago and Cheyenne definitely stood out. Chicago, after all, has a gun ban in place that's just as constitutionally dubious as the one struck down in Heller. Indeed, Alan Gura, the attorney who successfully argued Heller before the Court, is now working on the challenge to the Windy City law.
So last week's announcement that President-elect Obama has tapped outspoken gun control advocate Eric Holder to serve as his attorney general should come as something less than a complete shock. Holder, who served as deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton and as acting attorney general under President George W. Bush (a position he held until John Ashcroft was confirmed), has pushed for sweeping and restrictive gun control measures throughout his career while also endorsing the now-discredited collective rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. Obama's selection of Holder raises some serious concerns about his administration's commitment to upholding the entire Bill of Rights.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, for instance, Holder took to the pages of The Washington Post, where he played on the public's newfound fear of terrorism to lobby for additional gun show regulations. But as National Review's Jim Geraghty recently pointed out, of the two "terrorists" that Holder claimed were stalking America's gun show circuit, one was eventually acquitted of supplying guns to terrorists (though not of the separate charge of weapons smuggling), while the other, a man named Ali Boumelhem, didn't buy so much as a camouflage vest at a gun show. Since he had a felony record he let his brother do the shopping. In Holder's mind, that's a "loophole" that needs closing, but as Geraghty notes, "background checks like the one Holder was calling for would not have stopped [it], since the straw purchaser (the surrogate for the real buyer) is chosen because he has a clean record." Unless Holder wants to forbid gun sales to people with disreputable family members or friends, it's hard to imagine how any law could prevent this situation.
More recently, Holder was one of thirteen former Justice Department officials to sign an amicus brief on behalf of the D.C. government in the Heller case. That document, which endorsed restrictive gun control measures and cited rare and sensational events like the Columbine and Virginia Tech school shootings as evidence of "the deadly toll that firearms exact," also made the case for the collective rights interpretation that has now been rejected by both the Supreme Court and leading liberal legal scholars.
What does all this mean for Eric Holder's Department of Justice? Nothing good, says Second Amendment scholar and Independence Institute Research Director David Kopel. As Kopel told me via email, under the leadership of Attorney General Janet Reno and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, "the DOJ used the U.S. Attorneys offices for the aggressive prosecution of gun owners and sellers, often on flimsy charges. We may expect many more such prosecutions under Holder." Moreover, Holder's turf now includes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, which was transferred from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department after 9/11. That's one tool that Reno didn't have in her kit. "Now that the Bureau is part of DOJ," Kopel explained, "Attorney General Holder will have great power to force the imposition of onerous new regulations on firearms sales, on firearms stores, and on manufacturers."
Attorney General John Ashcroft, of course, famously attacked critics of the government's anti-terrorism policies for chasing "phantoms of lost liberty" and giving "ammunition to America's enemies." Let's hope that Second Amendment supporters won't be chasing as many "phantoms" once Eric Holder inherits the Bush administration's sweeping law enforcement powers.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?7251fe65-1cd2-4011-b678-22ef5d61fbed
08/12/04 Dave Henderson: Maybe we'd better take this bill seriously
Ever since the early 1970s, whenever downstate Assemblymen rattled sabers and proposed radical anti-gun or anti-hunting legislation, we could count on the conservative Senate Republican majority to block it.
That was then.
The scene changed dramatically on Nov. 4. Now the outrageous stuff coming out of the Assembly has some credence on the other side of the aisle. The Democrats — and that means the New York City mentality — have the majority in both houses. Except for four swing votes, they have pretty much carte blanche.
That's why the fact that the Assembly has bought into a national crusade known as the Ammunition Accountability Act is suddenly a legitimate threat. New York, Pennsylvania and 16 other states have already enacted legislation that would mandate the engraving of a unique serial number on the base of each handgun and “assault weapon” bullet, and an identical number on the cartridge's case. The act calls for dealers of this “encoded ammunition” to record the purchaser's name, birthdate, drivers license number, etc.
All non-encoded ammunition must be disposed of prior to Jan. 1, 2011. The database and other expenses involved would be paid for by a special tax of a half-cent per round of ammunition sold.
Don't believe it? Read the whole thing in Assembly Bill 10259, which was introduced last March (without a co-sponsor at the time). It mirrors A6920, A7300 and Senate companion bills S1177 and S3731, all of which were carried over from 2007.
Pennsylvania's House Bill 2228 is a virtual twin to the New York bills. Remington and other ammunition manufacturers earlier this year went on record stating that they couldn't afford to sell in those states that required serialization of cartridges because manufacturing would be cost prohibitive. One assumes that this is precisely what the anti-gun folks want.
The Act's national lobby maintains (and each New York bill carries this wording) that 30 percent of all homicides that involve a gun go unsolved and that handgun ammunition accounts for 80 percent of all ammunition sold in the United States.
For that 80 percent figure to be true, it must include .22LR ammunition, since rimfire sales volume just about equals all centerfire calibers combined. Since hunting and competition handguns of various forms can be chambered for a wide variety of centerfire rifle cartridges, the potential list of ammunition effected is gigantic. http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081204/SPORTS/812040369
08/12/02 St. Louis City Leader Says Police Ineffective, Tells Residents to Get Armed
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis city leader frustrated with the police response to rising crime called Tuesday on residents to arm themselves to protect their lives and property.
Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe said police are ineffective, outnumbered or don't care about the increase in crime in his north St. Louis ward. St. Louis has had 157 homicides in 2008, 33 more than last year at this time.
"The community has to be ready to defend itself, because it's clear the economy is going to get worse, and criminals are getting more bold," Troupe, 72, said Tuesday.
Troupe said that when he and residents approached a district police commander last year, they were told "there was nothing he could do to protect us and the community ... that he didn't have the manpower."
Police did not immediately return requests for comment. Chief Dan Isom told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he understands Troupe's frustration but doesn't support citizens arming themselves.
Carrying guns, he said, is not a "recipe for a less violent community."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/lawenforcement/ind...
For more information on FOAC efforts to ‘Protect YOUR Rights’, the most current voter’s guides, donating to or becoming a member of FOAC please click on this link: http://www.foac-pac.org/
Firearms Owners Against Crime is a registered political action committee dedicated to representing gun owners and sportsmen interests throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1994 FOAC is committed to the preservation of our Constitutional Rights under Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution's "Declaration of Rights" and the Second Amendment of the U. S. Constitution and effective public policy in the prosecution of criminals. FOAC teams with other pro-gun organizations and works to preserve the fundamental Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Directions to FOAC
- Follow Rt. 51South to the 2nd Right past Brownsville Rd.-Boro Park Rd.
- Make this right onto Boro Park Rd. (you will see Benson-Lincoln Mercury dealership on the Right)
- The Whitehall Boro Bldg. is on the right approx. 300 yards from Rt. 51.
- We are in the Community Room on the Top Floor.
- The meetings are (except for special events) on the second Sunday and begin at 10:00 AM.
For More Information--phone 412-221-3346.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Constitution -- Article I, Section 21, Declaration of Rights
The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned.
U.S. Constitution -- Amendment II
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
