Both Sides Anxious Over Heller Decision: Supreme Court justices have
track records that make predicting their rulings on many topics more
than a mere guess. Then there is the issue of the Second Amendment and
guns, about which the court has said virtually nothing in nearly 70
years. That could change in the next few months. The justices are facing
a decision about whether to hear an appeal from city officials in
Washington, D.C., wanting to keep the capital's 31-year ban on handguns.
A lower court struck down the ban as a violation of the Second Amendment
rights of gun ownership. The prospect that the high court might define
gun rights under the Constitution is making people on both sides of the
issue nervous.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5292679.html
Related Article: A U.S. appeals court decision defying precedent on gun
rights has reached the steps of the Supreme Court, carrying with it the
potential for a seismic shift in laws across the nation. Since 1939, the
nation's judges had generally regarded the Second Amendment right "to
keep and bear arms" as belonging to state militias, such as National
Guard units, not to individual gun owners. But on March 9, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit interpreted the
Second Amendment differently. The panel concluded that it protects an
individual's right to firearms and struck down a Washington, D.C., ban
on handguns. (Consider the source.)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-11-scotus-gun-laws_N.htm
---
Bedfellows Make Strange Politics: The Buckeye State just got a wake up
call. Ted Strickland, overwhelming winner in Ohio's gubernatorial
elections a year ago, today endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Why
does anyone across the nation care about a Midwest governor's
endorsement? And why should Ohioans care, especially Ohio firearms
owners? This event creates a potential situation every Ohio firearms
owner should fear. Overall, I think Strickland is not a bad governor. He
ran with a generally pro-gun message. I don't agree with all his
policies, but after a year he's created little mischief. But his choice
for lieutenant governor early in the campaign was another thing
entirely. There were firearms owners who were out there beating the drum
for Strickland at rallies, at gun shows, and elsewhere, totally ignoring
the baggage that came with his running mate, Lee Fisher. Here's the rub:
Ohio Lt. Governor Lee Fisher is about as anti-gun as Ted Kennedy...
http://thereadyline.blogspot.com/2007/11/could-hillarys-ohio-endorsement-mean.html
---
Parking-Lot Storage Bill Languishes In Georgia: There's a lot of
background noise right now in the continuing fight between the National
Rifle Association and Georgia business leaders over the
guns-in-the-parking-lot bill - the measure that kicked up such a bitter
fuss in the state Senate last session and was left to languish as the
session ended. Some folks are still looking to see if there is any
middle ground by which senators could give the NRA a little something
for its trouble and, thereby, be seen as coming down four-square for the
Second Amendment, while not, at the same time, being seen as thumbing
their noses at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Other folks are simply
looking for a way to disentangle the NRA's parking lot issue from
another gun bill to which it became attached, never mind what the NRA wants.
http://www.insideradvantagegeorgia.com/restricted/2007/November%202007/11-12-07/On_Background_Gun_Battle111219631.php
---
European Union May Fast-track "Gun Control": A British MEP is hoping to
"fast track" a new EU deal on gun control and says last week's school
massacre in Finland should act as a wake up call. Last week, the BBC
reported that police in Britain, faced with a flood of easily
convertible replica guns, want changes to European laws. Labour MEP
Arlene McCarthy, who chairs a key committee, said a new deal could be in
place by the end of the year. The new directive would make it harder to
buy guns across the EU.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7028328.stm
---
SAF Joins Battle Against International Prohibitionists: The Second
Amendment Foundation and the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting
Activities (WFSA) met in Palermo, Italy, on October 4 and 5, 2007, to
plan for a looming battle over global gun control. SAF joined the WFSA
in 2006. The WFSA was formed in 1997, and is an officially recognized
United Nations non-governmental organization, or NGO. SAF was
represented by Julianne Gottlieb. The WFSA has 38 members including most
of the major hunting and sport shooting organizations and the firearms
and ammunition manufacturer associations. The WFSA Board meets twice a year.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/592
---
Blame Liberalism, Not Guns, For Finnish Killings: On 7th November 2007
Pekka-Eric Auvinen, an 18-year old schoolboy, went to his school in
Jokela, Finland with a .22-calibre handgun and murdered eight people.
Christie Davies predicts that the anti-gun lobbies will use these tragic
shootings in Finland as part of their irrational crusade against gun
ownership. The real causes of Finland's high murder rate are alcohol and
liberalism and this particular murderer was a Bolshevik. It has nothing
to do with guns.
http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/001652.php
---
Change MLK Day To JMB Day?: For the record, I am opposed to Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday in the month of January or,
for that matter, any other month. It isn't that I oppose a national
holiday celebrating the legacy of America's greatest civil rights
leader. I just don't believe that King was our greatest civil rights
leader. I believe that distinction belongs to John Browning...
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MikeSAdams/2007/11/12/john_browning_day?page=full&comments=true
---
Are You On A Terror Watch List?: ...And get this: Anti-gun Senator Frank
Lautenberg of New Jersey is pushing legislation that would allow the
Justice Department to deny a person's right to own a firearm because
they're on this list. Let me get this straight: You don't know how you
get on, you don't know how to get off, but because your name's on there
(along with 749,999 others), you're stripped of your Second Amendment
rights?
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=330
---
Maybe, Maybe Not: Hornady is claiming that the Flex-Tip on its
LEVERevolution cartridges, designed to provide an aerodynamic tip to
bullets that can safely be used in tubular magazines, will give reliable
expansion over a wide range of velocities, making their .357 and .44
Magnum cartridges in this line suitable for use in revolvers as well.
I'll need to see more testing to judge whether that balance of expansion
and penetration is suitable for self-defense or just for hunting.
http://hornady.com/story.php?s=760
---
Do Gun Safes Require Routine Servicing?: I ran the item from John
Farnam, about S&G gun-safe locks requiring servicing every five years,
past a friend who is a locksmith and gunsmith. Here is his response:
And septic tanks should be pumped every 3 years. Servicing locks is
easy money. Opening them when they quit is a very hard way for a
locksmith to make a living. These things do not just quit all at once.
There is usually a history of balking or strange dragging or squeeking,
or some indication of impending doom. The WORST thing you can do is
IMPROPERLY lubricate the lock. No petroleum-based oils should be used,
because they lose light ends, and oxidize, leaving varnish, and tend to
collect dust. The best are solid-based lubes like teflon, moly sulphide
and graphite. Dry-slide is ok. Silicone spray lube, as used for
electonic equipment, is also very good. I wouldn't do any maintenance
until some clue manifest itself, due to the labor involved (removing
insulation, removing back lock plate, etc.) The biggest problem is
caused by the fact that the locking bolt is actuated by a claw and
lever, which are engaged with the rotating cam by action of a very light
spring. This spring cannot overcome much friction, and must be assisted
by a good thump when it hangs up. Lifting up the safe and dropping it
an inch or so is another trick. Sometimes just heating up the lock with
a hair dryer will loosem them up. If you are in a real hurry, a couple
of .45 rounds will usually jar them loose. Always shoot twice, so
people don't think you just had a UD. Safes that are opened every day
get some real wear on the internals, and sometimes the build-up of lash
in the components changes the combination. I have had cases where I
opened safes by changing each number up and down by one digit and trying
the combination. S&G Group 2 locks are the standard of the industry,
but are, nonetheless, mechanical devices. The electronic locks are far
more troublesome than the mechanical locks.
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
