Texas Stand-Your-Ground Bill Clears House Committee: A bill designed to
protect citizens' rights to self-defense has passed out of committee and
is headed to the floor of the Texas House. The bill, authored by Rep.
Joe Driver (R), chair of the House Law Enforcement committee, removes
the current requirement to retreat in the face of a threat.
http://lonestartimes.com/2007/02/28/common-sense-gun-law-out-of-committee/
---
Maryland "AWB" Given Poor Chance For Passage: Despite renewed efforts to
ban assault weapons in Maryland and the support of top state leaders, a
tougher gun control bill may not even make it to the floor of the Senate
this year...Because there is no House version of the bill, it could die
in the Senate panel, mirroring the destiny of similar measures in the
last three years.
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/02_28-39/GOV
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Utah Campus-Carry Bill Watered Down: Concealed weapons won't face any
new restrictions on university campuses in Utah, although students can
now request not to live with permit holders. A bill that passed in the
waning hours of this year's legislative session ended up as a watered
down version of an original bill that would have prohibited concealed
weapons in certain faculty offices.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660199756,00.html
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Washington Gun-Show Restriction Bill Clears Committee: Controversial
legislation that tightens regulations on firearm sales at gun shows
passed out of a state Senate committee today. Senate Bill 5197 would
expand background check requirements to include guns sold at shows by
unlicensed gun sellers. Currently, only licensed dealers have to screen
customers for felonies, age requirements and mental illness.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2003592482_webgunloop27.html
---
Minnesota City Bans Airsoft Guns: Realistic-looking replica guns will be
banned in St. Paul under an ordinance the City Council unanimously
approved today. The ban does not cover water pistols and other obvious
toys. But the popularity of real-looking guns that shoot pellets and are
used in war games, known generally as Airsoft guns, is on the rise.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/breaking_news/16804073.htm
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Meanwhile, In California...: An Inland lawmaker's bill to punish people
who threaten peace officers with imitation firearms passed its first
committee hearing Tuesday. The measure by Assemblyman Bill Emmerson,
R-Redlands, calls for a minimum 90-day jail sentence for anyone
convicted of threatening a peace officer with a look-alike weapon...
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_region28.42f3135.html
---
Local CCW Restriction Meets Resistance In Kansas: Bonner Springs City
Manager Jack Helin may have believed a common-sense-sounding ordinance
he brought to the City Council would meet with little discussion Monday
night...What Helin hadn't contended with in assuming a breezy passage of
the ordinance were the libertarian leanings and the skepticism of some
Council members. (Two pending bills would limit the ability of cities
and counties to regulate conceal-carry handguns beyond what the state
law already has in effect.)
http://www.bonnersprings.com/section/frontpagelead/story/10019
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When Guns Are Outlawed...: Nineteen people have been charged in a
gunrunning scheme in which "straw buyers" purchased weapons in
Mississippi that were later sold to street gangs in Chicago, federal
prosecutors said Wednesday. Participants in the interstate firearms
trafficking conspiracy shipped more than 100 guns between August 1999
and April 2005, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the northern
district of Illinois. Most of the guns have not been recovered,
authorities said.
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/171439
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No Peephole?: A Tennessee man, who answered a knock on the door with
pistol in hand, was attacked by two intruders as soon as he opened the
door and was stabbed by one of them. He appears to have driven them off
with shots that failed to find their targets. (There is a significant
loss in tactical advantage once the door is opened. Sighted fire at
targets does not prepare you for arm's length confrontations.)
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9000908
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Why Californians Are Losing The Gun Wars: Commentator lists various
factors that have contributed to the moribund status of the RKBA in
California and concludes, "We have abdicated our responsibilities as
citizens and decided to write checks to state and national gun rights
organizations thinking that they alone can do what we will not...We all
have to engage our neighbors, friends, relatives and do those little
things like fax your assemblyman with our views, put up the yard sign,
register conservatives to vote, phone bank and precinct walk for that
pro gun city council hopeful..."
http://www.gunnewsdaily.com/news730.html
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Rule Three Reminder: A security guard at the federal courthouse in
downtown Richmond VA was slightly wounded this morning when a handgun he
was handling accidentally discharged. The guard was grazed in the right
upper thigh area by a lone bullet fired from a .40-caliber Glock 23
pistol as he was placing the pistol in his holster. (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.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193439505
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Rule Four Reminder: An Arizona police lieutenant said he is dismayed
about the Pinal County Attorney's Office offering a plea agreement that
could mean no jail time for the two men accused of shooting him Aug. 19
while he was mountain biking with friends. The two men arrested in the
case told investigators they were target shooting in the area when Lane
was hit. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/43302.php
---
Zumbo Apologizes Again: "The Second Amendment, which guarantees us the
right to keep and bear arms, has nothing to do with hunting, but
everything to do with gun ownership. During the ensuing controversy
surrounding my blog, some people have taken me to task for abandoning
the Second Amendment. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If I
ever, in my wildest dreams, thought the words I had written would bring
the validity of the Second Amendment into question, I assure you I never
would have touched my fingers to the keypad."
http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2007/02/28/news/news3.txt
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British Prohibitionist Admits Failure Of Ban: Ian Bell worked long and
hard to make sure the ban passed a decade ago. But writing in
Scotland's Sunday Herald, he says, "My idea didn't work... guns have
become commonplace, so commonplace that every would-be terrorist worth
his salt must be armed to the teeth. Bans have failed utterly."
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=170
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
