Vineyard Personnel "Captured" At Gunpoint" Two managers of a California
vineyard were accosted by an armed SWAT team as they used pellet guns to
scare off birds.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/12825144.htm
---
What Are The Odds?: A woman in England is caught in the crossfire
between two gangs. A bullet to her chest is deflected by the underwire
in her bra. (I recall a similar incident involving a Wonder Bra at least
six years ago.)
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/08/nbra08.xml
---
Firearm Stolen From Officer's Auto: An unidentified firearm, body armor
and other equipment were stolen out of the trunk of an automobile
belonging to a Maricopa (AZ) County detention officer. Yet, Arizona's
governor vetoed legislation that would have ended Arizona's ban on
firearms where alcohol is sold for consumption, continuing to force many
Arizonans to leave firearms in vehicles if they eat out.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1008phxdeputy08.html
---
RFID Chips In Guns?: John Longnecker questions whether the inclusion of
RFID chips in firearms may help criminals (and others) detect which
potential victims are and are not carrying.
http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/longenecker/
---
Fourth Time's A Loser: Three home-invaders were shot, one fatally, when
they returned to burgle the same home for the fourth time.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/5069424/detail.html
No Charges To Be Filed Against Homeowner:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=3512904
---
From SAF:
NEWS RELEASE
SAF DEMANDS ANSWERS FOR GUN BAN AT FEMA RELIEF CENTER OUTSIDE
BATON ROUGE
BELLEVUE, WA - The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today expressed
shock and disbelief that authorities are continuing to target firearms
held by private citizens who are now seeking refuge at a relief center
outside Baker, Louisiana, a bedroom community near Baton Rouge.
According to a report that aired on the Lehrer News Hour on Thursday,
displaced New Orleans residents are being allowed to move into a
compound called "FEMA City," where trailers and RVs have been assembled
to provide temporary housing. Among the conditions for being allowed to
move in - and the only one detailed by Baker Mayor Harold Rideau - is
that no firearms are allowed. The compound was established by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), hence its nickname.
"This is not acceptable," said SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb, "especially
after the lawsuit that we, and the National Rifle Association, filed
recently in New Orleans that secured a temporary restraining order
against the confiscation of firearms by police in that city and in
nearby St. Tammany Parish.
"It doesn't matter whether this refuge community is behind a gate, or
whether it is patrolled by police and security guards," Gottlieb
continued. "This restriction appears to be illegal under Louisiana law
and the state constitution, as well as under a federal court ruling some
years ago that protected firearms owned by residents in a federal public
housing facility in another state.
"We are making inquiries about this restriction, and who ordered it,"
Gottlieb said. "When we find out, whether it is an order that came from
local authorities, or from FEMA, when we establish who gave that order,
we are going to pursue legal action.
"Being the victim of a natural disaster does not require a citizen to
surrender his or her civil rights, and that includes firearms rights and
property rights," Gottlieb stated. "The anti-gun attitude that seems to
be growing out of Louisiana's disaster had better change, or we're going
to change it in court."
---
From KABA:
GRASSROOTS ACTION ALERT
Conferees To Meet on USA PATRIOT ACT--Urge Congress to Adopt
Senate Version of Patriot Act Reauthorization
House and Senate Conferees will begin to iron out differences in the two
versions of Patriot Act reauthorization legislation next week during the
Columbus Day District Work period. The House and Senate could vote on a
final Patriot Act reauthorization bill as early as the week of October
17th.
Call Your Senators and Representatives at 202-224-3121.
Urge them to support modifications contained in the Senate bill, S.1389.
The Senate bill restores some needed checks on the government's
ability to comb through an individual's financial, medical, business,
library, gun purchases or other sales records without any specific facts
or connection between those records and a foreign terrorist. It also
provides a meaningful right to challenge. Similar reforms are needed to
the national security letter power.
The Senate bill creates a presumption that "sneak and peek" searches
can be secret for only seven days, with some exceptions. Unfortunately,
neither bill requires that records searches be connected to terrorists,
not ordinary Americans, and the Justice Department has admitted that 88
percent of these searches have been in cases that have nothing to do
with terrorism.
The Senate bill would set a four-year sunset on three patriot-related
powers to ensure that Congress has the leverage it needs to get answers
about how these powers are being used. The House bill would set an
expiration date so far into the future, ten years, that it would skip
the next President and diminish the incentive for fuller disclosure
about the use of these secretive search powers.
Tell Congress that protecting civil liberties and achieving national
security are not mutually exclusive and that the Senate bill achieves
those goals.
---
From The NRA-ILA:
SUIT HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO PASS S. 397 IN U.S. HOUSE
Yet another example of the need to pass S. 397 surfaced this week in
Washington, D.C., as the Supreme Court Monday refused to block a lawsuit
against firearm manufacturers.
Washington D.C.'s "strict liability" law holds any manufacturer of any
firearm liable if one of their guns is used in the commission of a
crime. The statute is one of the most egregious in the nation, putting
the entire industry at risk if one of their products is used in the
commission of a crime in D.C.
A filing by former Solicitor General Ted Olson, (lead counsel for the
gun manufacturers in Beretta v. District of Columbia), countered the
decision, telling the justices, "The District of Columbia's statute
threatens ... gun manufacturers with draconian penalties based on their
lawful out-of-state commercial activity--and on the criminal misconduct
of third parties over whom the manufacturers have no control."
It is critical that you continue to contact your U.S. Representative and
urge him/her to pass S. 397 (as passed by the Senate) in the U.S.
House. It's time to put a stop to these meritless, rapacious lawsuits
once and for all.
You can find contact information for your elected officials by using the
"Write Your Representatives" <
http://www.capwiz.com/nra/dbq/officials/>
tool at www.NRAILA.org <
http://www.NRAILA.org/>, or you can call your
U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121.
We can and will achieve our mutual goal of finally enacting this common
sense law, but only with your continued assistance. Please help us
finish the job once and for all by contacting your U.S. Representative
in Washington and urging him/her to support the "Protection of Lawful
Commerce in Arms Act" as passed by the Senate.
NRA ENDORSES JERRY KILGORE FOR GOVERNOR
The NRA-Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) endorsed Jerry Kilgore for
Governor of Virginia at a series of press conferences across the state
yesterday.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre stated to supporters at
yesterday's events, "NRA is endorsing Jerry Kilgore because we can trust
him to preserve freedom in the Old Dominion. When the line was drawn in
the sand, and we were all forced to choose freedom or reject it, Jerry
Kilgore stood for freedom. Tim Kaine, on the other hand, surrendered
our gun rights and used our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to cozy up to
Bill Clinton and Rosie O'Donnell."
Based on past support and a firm pledge to continue to protect our
Second Amendment rights and outdoor legacy, Jerry Kilgore earned an "A"
rating from the NRA-PVF.
"As the top law enforcement officer in Virginia, former Secretary of
Public Safety and a former public prosecutor, Jerry Kilgore was the lead
advocate for strict prosecution of violent criminals. He knows that to
reduce crime you don't pass gun control laws that only affect
law-abiding Virginians; you enforce the existing laws that put violent
criminals behind bars for a very long time," LaPierre added.
"As a lifelong hunter and gun owner, and as a member of the NRA, it is
my great honor to have received the endorsement of the NRA," Jerry
Kilgore stated. "Gun owners in Virginia have a clear choice this year.
My opponent has spent his life working against gun owners, and has
earned an "F" from the NRA. I have spent my life defending the Second
Amendment, and have earned an "A" from the NRA. I am proud to be the
candidate who will defend our Second Amendment rights, and who will
always stand on the side of gun owners in Virginia."
GUN CRIME PROSECUTIONS UP DURING BUSH ADMINISTRATION
NRA has long maintained that federal gun laws aimed at the criminal
misuse of firearms are effective in reducing crime--if they are
enforced. President Bush's administration has clearly heard that
message and implemented it.
According to data released by a Syracuse University-based research
group, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), prosecutions
of federal gun law violations have increased sharply in the Bush
Administration.
The data, obtained by TRAC from the Department of Justice, show that
federal prosecutions are up across the board in the Bush Justice
Department, and that cases filed on gun charges are a primary reason for
the increase.
In 2000 there were 5,490 such prosecutions. In 2004 there were 10,937.
That increase in gun crime prosecutions makes up almost one-quarter of
the total increase in federal prosecutions in that period. The data
suggest a significant change in priorities between a Janet Reno vs. a
John Ashcroft-run Justice Department: the latter went after criminals
who misuse firearms, not law-abiding citizens.
Passing more gun laws targeted at lawful gun ownership will not fight
crime. Only by prosecuting criminals who possess and use firearms
illegally will we have a decline in gun crime in America. The Bush
Justice Department has clearly received and understood this truth.
SPECIAL NEW JERSEY AND VIRGINIA VOTER REGISTRATION ALERT!
For those of you in Virginia and New Jersey, deadlines for registering
to vote in this year's election on November 8, are rapidly approaching!
Since your states are the only two with elections this year, all eyes
will be on you as a precursor to the all-important 2006 elections. If
the anti-gunners see any weaknesses in our pro-gun voting bloc in New
Jersey or Virginia this year, they will work tirelessly to attempt to
expose them in next year's all-important national congressional elections.
In short, we must work to ensure that every gun owner, hunter, and
Second Amendment supporter in Virginia and New Jersey is registered to
vote in advance of the October 11, 2005 deadline, and then votes on
November 8.
For information on voter registration dates, deadlines, requirements,
and applications for New Jersey's and Virginia's elections this year,
please call the ILA Grassroots Division at (800) 392-VOTE (8683) or
visit www.NRAILA.org <
http://www.NRAILA.org/>.
VISIT NRA-ILA WEBSITE DEDICATED TO DEFEATING PROPOSITION H--
SAN FRANCISCO GUN BAN
As you've been reading in the Grassroots Alert for months, on November
8, San Francisco voters will go to the polls to vote on Proposition H--a
citywide gun ban.
To educate and mobilize Bay Area pro-gun supporters, NRA-ILA unveiled a
new website dedicated exclusively to exposing the truth about
Proposition H. The website-- www.StopSanFranban.com
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.10.4325426> -- is designed
to provide you with one-stop-shopping for the information and tools you
will need to ensure Proposition H is defeated on November 8.
Among the many features at www.StopSanFranban.com
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.10.4325426> are: information
on the proposed ban; sample letters and tips for identifying and writing
letters to the editor of area newspapers; information on the benefits of
firearm ownership for self-defense and the ineffectiveness of gun bans
in reducing crime; voter registration links; e-mail sign-ups; and more.
If Proposition H passes on November 8, it will become the most
restrictive gun control law in the nation; even more restrictive than
the egregious Washington, D.C., gun ban that NRA-ILA is currently
working to overturn in Congress! The only thing standing in the way of
Proposition H passing is you!
The first thing San Francisco residents must do to ensure Proposition H
is defeated is register to vote. If you are not currently registered,
you can get more information by choosing the "Voting Center" link at
www.StopSanFranban.com
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.10.4325426>. Then, be sure
to forward this link to your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners,
both inside and outside of San Francisco, to ensure the collective
voices of America's gun owners are heard loudly and clearly in the
months leading up to, and especially on, November 8! Those of you who
don't live directly in San Francisco, but reside nearby, should visit
www.StopSanFranban.com
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.10.4325426> frequently for
updates on what you can do locally to ensure this deplorable proposition
is defeated.
Please visit www.StopSanFranban.com
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.10.4325426> today to help us
prevent San Francisco from becoming the next Washington, D.C.!
A LOOK AT THE STATES
(****For all of the action items below, you can find contact information
for your legislators by using the "Write Your Representatives"
<
http://www.capwiz.com/nra/dbq/officials/> tool at www.NRAILA.org
<
http://www.NRAILA.org/>. As always, thank you for your support.****)
CALIFORNIA
Assembly Bill 996, authored by Assemblymember Ridley-Thomas (D - Los
Angeles), is now on the Governor's desk. AB 996 would require all
retailers to display and sell ammunition in a manner that is only
accessible by an employee, not the purchaser. Any violation of this
measure would result in a misdemeanor. Please contact Governor
Schwarzenegger's office and urge him to oppose this onerous legislation
further restricting our rights! The Governor can be reached at (916)
445-2841. The Governor has until October 9 to sign or veto this
legislation, so your immediate action is needed!
FLORIDA
Here's your chance to speak your mind on proposed FWC (Florida Wildlife
Commission) rule changes! There are numerous proposed regulations upon
which you may wish to comment. One involves your right to concealed
carry on Wildlife Management Areas. It is item (10) 68A-15.004. You may
access the comments section at the link below:
www.myfwc.com/commission/RuleChangeForm.htm
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.11.4325426>.
GEORGIA
Attorney General Thurbert Baker (D) announced an addition to Georgia's
program of reciprocal agreements with firearms permit holders from other
states. Georgia will recognize firearms permits issued by Alaska, which
further reciprocates in recognizing firearms licenses with the following
states: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
and Wyoming.
NEW JERSEY
NRA President Sandy Froman is scheduled to be keynote speaker at the
annual meeting of the "Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs"
(ANJRPC) on Sunday, October 16, 2005, at approximately 11:20 a.m., at
the Bridgewater, N.J. Marriott Hotel, 700 Commons Way, Bridgewater, N.J.
08807 ( marriott.com/property/abouthotel/default/sosbw?WT_Ref=mi_left
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.12.4325426> ). NRA members
are invited to attend. Events preceding and following Ms. Froman's
speech are open to ANJRPC members only (to join, see
www.anjrpc.org/Membership.htm
<
http://www.nranews.org/UM/T.asp?A2.24.1903.13.4325426>). Seating is
limited and cannot be guaranteed. ANJRPC is NRA's official state
affiliate in New Jersey.
NEW YORK
The Sportsmen's Association for Firearms Education Inc. (S.A.F.E.) will
be hosting its "2005 Right-to-Carry Conference & Second Amendment Rally"
on Sunday October 16, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (doors open at 12:00
noon). The event will be held at the Sheraton, Long Island, 110
Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, Smithtown, NY, (631) 231-1100, (on Motor
Parkway on North side of LIE between exits 53 & 55). In attendance at
the event will be: Wayne R. LaPierre, NRA Executive Vice President;
John C. Sigler, NRA First Vice President; Randy A. Daniels, New York
Secretary of State; Jim Fotis, Executive Director, Law Enforcement
Alliance of America; and John L. Cushman, S.A.F.E. President and
Founder, and NRA Director. At the conference, you will get the latest
information on the Right-to-Carry on Long Island, meet and network with
fellow sportsmen, raise issues of concern with local and national
leaders of Second Amendment organizations and local legislators, and in
valuable prizes in drawings limited to attendees only. Admission and
parking is free and the event is open to your family and friends.
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
