Nearly 260,000 Texans Licensed To Carry: At the end of last year,
258,162 people had permits, up about 4 percent from the year before and
more than double the number in 1996, when Texas law first allowed people
to carry concealed weapons...Although those 55 and older represent just
28 percent of the state's population over the age of 21, they carry 46
percent of the permits. And one-third of the permit holders are 60 and
older.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4503603.html
---
Lies, Damned Lies And Statistics: John Lott corrects The Washington
Times for repeating a "statistic" cited by the Virginia legislator who
was recently rebuffed in her attempt to "close the gun-show loophole" in
that state.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070127-092608-3686r.htm
---
If You Repeat A Lie Often Enough...: Police in Murfreesboro TN are
looking for a man of Middle Eastern appearance who allegedly tried to
gain access to the Barrett Firearms plant, a manufacturer of .50-caliber
rifles. (It sounds as though the prohibitionists may have finally
convinced a potential terrorist that a .50-caliber rifle is just what he
needs.)
http://www.wsmv.com/news/10854547/detail.html
---
No Cookies, Thank You: An eight-year-old Girl Scout and her father were
surprised when their second ringing of a St. Louis doorbell was answered
by a 78-year-old woman armed with a shotgun. The woman reportedly has
been the object of harassment and was not charged with any offense.
(This case points out one advantage to a concealed handgun but Missouri
still requires a permit from the sheriff to buy a handgun.)
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/CACB24D315D16D8C8625726F0041EC85?OpenDocument
---
More Details In Glove-Box-Gun Shooting: The mother of the six-year-old
Chicago boy who fatally shot himself after taking his grandmother's gun
from the glove box of her car says that the grandmother was not at
fault. "The glove box was always locked," Parker said. "She was
rushing." (It sounds as though teaching the youngster to handle a
firearm safely might have contributed to "demystification" and kept him
from going for the gun when he saw the chance.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16681212/
---
Rule Three Reminder: A police officer in Oregon was shot in the foot by
a colleague as SWAT officers assisted vice detectives in serving a
warrant. (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on
the frame, until your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire.)
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/01/24/f1.cr.shotcop.0124.p1.php?section=cityregion
---
From AzCDL:
AzCDL's volunteers at the legislature have been meeting and working with
legislators before the current legislative session began, and are still
going at it non-stop. Their hard work is paying off. The following
are bills that have been filed in the Senate that AzCDL supports:
SB 1250 -
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1250
(16 co-sponsors)
Eliminates the fingerprint requirement for renewing concealed carry permits.
SB 1251 -
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1251
(15 co-sponsors)
Strengthens the "public establishment or event" storage requirements:
� Defines "secure storage" and "readily accessible."
� Prohibits recording information about the weapon or individual.
� If "operator" doesn't comply, they can't prohibit weapons.
� Exempts CCW permit holders from carry prohibitions except in
court houses, etc.
SB 1301 -
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1301
(16 co-sponsors)
Redefines "open carry." The current law has two problems. First, open
carry is limited in statute to a belt holster, and the holster, NOT the
weapon, must be "wholly or partially visible." Shoulder holsters,
stuffing a gun in your pants, or even an in-the-waist-band (IWB)
holster, if the holster can't be seen, are not covered under the current
wording of the law. SB 1301 specifies that either the weapon or holster
can be visible, and removes the "belt holster" restriction. The second
problem is the interpretation of "wholly or partially visible" language
in ARS 13-3102.F by a 1994 Appellate court decision that held it has to
be obvious to a casual observer that you're carrying a weapon. Short of
walking around with an "I have a gun" sign with an arrow pointing to the
gun, if your weapon is not visible to everyone who sees you, it could be
argued that you are carrying concealed. SB 1301 replaces the "wholly or
partially visible" language and refers to "any portion" of a weapon or
holster being visible.
SB 1302 -
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1302
Clarifies that the intent of the Castle Doctrine bill that restored
"innocent until proven guilty" applied to all court cases pending on
April 26, 2006 when the bill was signed. Sadly, there was a
high-profile case pending at the time against a hiker who used a gun to
defend himself against an attack. The judge in the case did not allow
the case to be heard under the new law. The hiker was convicted of
murder under the old law where he had to first admit to shooting
someone, then try to prove his innocence to a jury with the prosecuting
attorney controlling all the evidence.
Now comes YOUR part - Take the time to thank the co-sponsors with a
little note. Below are cut-and-paste letters along with email address
lists in both semi-colon and comma separations (depending on your email
software).
It's important that ALL the co-sponsors hear from YOU. It affects their
support for these bills and others they might be asked to support in the
future. Please take the time to send each of the following messages.
MESSAGE #1 - For those who co-sponsored all 4 bills:
To: (semi-colon separations)
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected]
To: (comma separations)
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Subject: SB 1250, 1251, 1301, 1302
Senator:
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are
a co-sponsor of SB 1250, 1251, 1301 and 1302. These bills are very
important to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for
supporting them.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, State & zip-code
Telephone Number
MESSAGE #2 - For those who co-sponsored SB 1250, 1251 and 1301
To: (semi-colon separation)
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected];
[email protected]
To: (comma separations)
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Subject: SB 1250, 1251, 1301
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are
a co-sponsor of SB 1250, 1251 and 1301. These bills are very important
to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, State & zip-code
Telephone Number
MESSAGE #3 - For Rep. Adams who is co-sponsoring SB 1250 and 1251
To:
[email protected]
Subject: SB 1250 and 1251
Representative Adams:
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are
a co-sponsor of SB 1250 and 1251. These bills are very important to me
and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, State & zip-code
Telephone Number
MESSAGE #4 - For Rep. Pete Rios who is co-sponsoring SB 1250 and 1301
To:
[email protected]
Subject: SB 1250 and 1301
Representative Rios:
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are
a co-sponsor of SB 1250 and 1301. These bills are very important to me
and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, State & zip-code
Telephone Number
MESSAGE #5 - For Senator Pamela Gorman who is co-sponsoring SB 1301 and 1302
To:
[email protected]
Subject: SB 1301 and 1302
Senator Gorman:
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are
a co-sponsor of SB 1301 and 1302. These bills are very important to me
and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, State & zip-code
Telephone Number
As more relevant legislation is introduced, we will keep you up to date
via these Alerts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AZCDL_Alerts/
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Join today!
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright � 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.
---
From NRA:
New NRA Gateway Launches Monday!
After many exciting months in the making ... on Monday, January 29,
we're launching the most functional, interactive, informative and
powerful live news experience in the history of both the NRA and the
Internet.
Beginning Monday, NRANews.com is the gateway to all things NRA. You can get:
* One-click access to all NRA web domains, from safety and
marksmanship to gun laws and shooting range locations
* On-demand access to a bigger-than-ever archive of NRA videos,
speeches, newsmagazines, commercials and newsmakers
* "Cam & Company" from 9 p.m. to midnight Eastern--three hours of
live news coverage from D.C., or wherever news is happening, also
simulcast on Sirius Satellite Radio, Patriot channel 144
* "The Daily News with Ginny Simone" at 5 p.m. Eastern--a 15-minute
roundup of the day's news, with a veteran TV journalist who's covered
the Second Amendment longer than anyone in the world
* My personal daily blog, "What They Didn't Tell You Today"
* Constantly updated news tickers, alerts and programming notes
And there's so much more. Whether you're visiting for the first time ...
or you've relied on NRA communications for years ... our new NRA gateway
gives you much more, in one place, than was ever available before.
NRANews.com is whatever you want, whenever you want, all at one
bookmark. If it's about the NRA and your Right to Keep and Bear Arms,
you'll find it at NRANews.com.
Forward this to your friends and family ... put "Visit NRANews.com!" on
your email signature ... and invite everyone to join our movement to
preserve our freedoms and reclaim our right to free speech.
See you there Monday--and thank you for your enduring courage and
support.
Wayne LaPierre
Executive Vice President
National Rifle Association of America
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
