From VCDL:
From today's VCDL VA-ALERT:
There has been a huge firestorm on gun-rights sites across the nation on
the actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
(BATFE), the Richmond Police Department (RPD), and Henrico County at
last week's gun show. As you recall the police were going to people's
houses while the people were at the gun show awaiting approval to
purchase a handgun and interviewing family members and neighbors about
the purchase.
Serious questions are raised about various laws that might have been
broken that weekend.
I have been interviewed by Gun Week, CNS News (an Internet news
service), the NRA's First Freedom magazine, and others who are going to
be doing their own investigations.
However, very strangely, there is a LOCAL MEDIA BLACKOUT on an event
that is stirring up people as far away as Oregon and California! I don't
know if the media is asleep at the switch or just not interested.
I have been trying to contact a Lieutenant with the RPD who coordinates
with BATFE and Homeland Security to discuss the event, but so far he has
not returned my two phone calls. Hopefully he will return my call next
week. I will keep working this until I get some answers. Push come to
shove, VCDL can bring the issue up at a Richmond City Council meeting.
I also plan on contacting Henrico. A few members have already emailed
Henrico and I will be watching for any response that Henrico sends.
Again, VCDL can work the issue at a Henrico Board of Supervisors meeting
if necessary.
An observation: On the various chat rooms where this incident is being
discussed at length, a few people who haven't heard of VCDL, quite
understandably questioned the validity of the story. It was truly
humbling for me to see so many people jump in at that point to explain
who we are and what we do.
For those who question how BATFE/police could pull this off in a timely
fashion: At the gun shows in Richmond, the State Police setup a NICS
check room where ALL the dealers drop off their NICS forms. Later, the
dealers check back to see if the NICS check has been completed and the
forms ready. All BATFE has to do is to grab the forms as they are
dropped off by the dealers, call in the contact info and have an officer
dispatched to the house. That officer reports results of survey back to
dispatcher, who in turn gives it to BATFE. The form is then approved and
released to the dealer the next time he checks back. It is not unusual
to have to wait an hour for approval, so the average gun owner wouldn't
really be alerted to anything until he got home.
Where the disbelief seems to be coming from is that in many states, the
dealer calls in the NICS check from the show floor. Thus BATFE would
have to be in the booth with the dealer to get the NICS info and make
the dealer hold the form until the survey results were returned. This
would have also alerted dealers as to what was going on. But that isn't
how it's done at Richmond gun shows.
As I get more information and the story continues to unfold, I will keep
you posted.
Philip Van Cleave, President, VCDL
---
Parents Held Liable For Knife Attack By Son: A Cincinnati OH jury has
levied a $4.55 million judgment against the parents of a boy who was 11
days shy of his 18th birthday when he stabbed a 13-year-old girl.
Attorneys for the Hilmers argued that the Whites knew their son carried
a knife. Ohio law says parents can be held liable if they negligently
entrust a weapon to their child.
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/news/89596.php
---
Interesting Case, Of All Places, From California: While the description
of the event is bizarre, the ruling of the appeals court is correct -
the claim of self-defense is not limited to threats and attacks by other
humans. (Even in Arizona's dubious "Shannon's Law," ostensibly passed to
allow felony prosecution for random, celebratory gunfire, there is a
specific exemption from prosecution for those who reasonably discharge a
firearm within a city or town in defense against an attack by an animal.)
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B175291.PDF
---
S&W M&P Pistol: A list member commented earlier this week that a Google
search had failed to turn up any further information about S&W's
forthcoming Military & Police pistol line, which has already been
mentioned twice in these mailings. Here are photos and a description.
http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22517
---
From John Farnam:
18 Aug 05
New S&W "M&P" Service Pistol, soon to be introduced, from a friend close
to the project:
"The M&P is not intended for the pistol aficionado. That is, it is not
an 'expert's gun,' like many, contemporary 1911 clones. It is an
elemental, service pistol, intended to be used and carried, well and
safely, by the average police officer and CCW holder.
It is eminently functional, easy to maintain at the user level, comes
apart and goes back together easily, and can't be reassembled
incorrectly. It is also easy to maintain at the armorer level, with
complete parts interchangeability; no fitting necessary. The trigger
(borrowed from the SIGMA) is a reasonable compromise between speed and
deliberation. Interchangeable grip panels assure a functional fit of
nearly any size hand. A durable, non-glare finish provides protection
against corrosion and excessive wear.
Competitively priced. Self-decocking. Not pretty. This is a gun
intended to successfully compete for institutional business with current
heavy hitters, Glock, SIG, and H&K. S&W is serious about this gun. All
parts and components are produced in-house. Likewise, all tools
necessary to make components."
Comment: S&W's recent, blundering missteps are all well known, and S&W
has been rightly criticized, but we all need to give this new gun a
fair hearing. If S&W produces another lemon, shame on them, but S&W's
rebound, back into the status of "major player," is good news for
everyone. Good competition makes for superior products, and a strong,
American presence in this industry is in the best interest of all of us.
/John
15 Aug 05
Reply from a friend with many years of service as a police executive
with a large, state agency:
"This last Quip complements your previous email regarding Castle Rock vs
Gonzales, which (yet one more time) established that government cannot,
nor should ever be expected to, protect us on the personal/individual
level, which is, curiously, the only level that matters! Yet, our
civilization has been brainwashed into thinking all individuals will be
fully protected, all the time. Politicians like nothing better than to
persuade naive citizens to suspend reality long enough to actually
believe such an obvious impossibility, at least during election season.
As cops, we are frustratingly amused with grasseaters who have chosen to
buy off on such piffle. We cops are so much smarter. Aren't we?
Yet, so many of us cops fall victim to the same pernicious deception
when we foolishly persuade ourselves that this same government will
provide us with all necessary training and equipment that we need to
stay healthy. In so doing, we openly ignore that everything we use,
from the weapon we carry to the training that goes with it, comes to us
through a bureaucratic sewer pipe of 'appearance' concerns, political
correctness, 'feelings,' executive promotions, and a persistent
'low-bid' mentality.
Some of us allow ourselves to become so brainwashed that we actually
rely upon advice from legal counsel that represents the union, or the
government, instead of securing counsel that represents us, and only
us. When will we realize that we, too, are on our own?"
Comment: Politicians predictably engage in a more-or-less, continuous
confidence scam, promising the impossible and, when they fail to
deliver, making feeble excuses and persuading the electorate that they
really didn't mean what they said, that last time. The smart among us
reject these predictable, smooth lies that come at us like a river,
particularly during election season. We realize that our safety, our
future, and our destiny is in our hands alone, and we take unilateral
action accordingly!
"A wise man never tries to warm himself in front of a picture of a fire."
/John
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
