US AG Promises Mexico Crackdown On Gun Trafficking: The U.S. attorney
general on Friday promised to crack down on weapons trafficking from the
United States to Mexico, making a rare admission of the role that
American-made guns play in that country's drug wars...Gonzales said he
was talking to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
about ways to crack down on gun trafficking. The Mexican Justice
Department says about 95 percent of the weapons it confiscates were made
or bought in the United States.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0609gonzales0609.html
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/186816
---
Delaware House Passes Anti-Confiscation Bill: Delaware lawmakers passed
a bill that ensures gun owners they can keep firearms during a state of
emergency...<>That bill now heads to the Senate where legislators say it
is likely to pass. It will then head to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's desk for
final approval.
http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6627384&nav=MXEFM7m7
---
Why Has Violent Crime Increased: ...The truth is, the FBI says the
increase in violent crime can be attributed to just a few factors: a
rise in juvenile crime and gang activity. Often, these two factors are
one and the same, as juveniles in the inner city turn to a life of crime
at an early age...
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=246
---
Score, 1-1: A Duncanville TX man is recovering after police said a
burglar broke into his home and shot him. The homeowner told police he
woke up and found someone inside the house. The homeowner and the
burglar then shot at each other. Police said they later found the
suspect wounded in a nearby field. (The best strategy in home-defense is
to get everyone into a designated, locked safe room and force the
intruder to place himself in your protected field of fire, if he persists.)
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13471835/detail.html
---
Bringing A Baseball Bat To A Gunfight: An Oklahoma man was shot fatally
after he broke into the home of his estranged wife and attacked her with
a baseball bat. A spokesman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigation said it appears the shooting was justifiable.
http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_159183920.html
---
Better Than A Baseball Bat: A commentator in Missouri applauds the
passage of a castle-doctirne bill that "grants civil and criminal
immunity to citizens whether they're in their homes, cars, tents or, I
guess, cardboard boxes under viaducts, to use deadly force against
intruders."
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/COLUMNISTS17/706080387/1007/NEWS01
---
Oops!: An Oklahoma woman, who sounds like she may have been shooting a
rental gun, shot herself in the leg after she reacted to a hot, ejected
case going down the front of her shirt. (Most people who have taken
professional training have been cautioned to wear upper garments with
tight closures and billed caps or hats with brims, to lessen the risk of
this sort of incident. Those who have integrated the basic safety rules
into their life will also get the finger out of the trigger guard and
ensure that the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction before dealing
with a piece of hot brass.)
http://www.newsok.com/article/2991633
---
What Would You Expect In San Francisco?: The police chief at City
College of San Francisco has resigned over a question of security. He
wanted his officers to be able to carry guns on campus, especially in
light of a recent incident, but he was overruled. (Los Angeles Community
College District officers were fully certified and armed for years
before being absorbed into the sheriff's department as the Community
College Bureau.)
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5376569&ft=print
---
Attention, Tucson Area: The Arizona Game and Fish Department is
organizing a clean up of about 25 shooting sites within Ironwood Forest
National Monument on Saturday, June 16...As you may be aware, Ironwood
is at the center of controversy over the BLM's proposal to close all
128,000 acres of the Monument to target shooting. One of the reasons
given for the proposed closure is the amount of litter left at these
sites by people illegally dumping or target and other debris left behind
by some shooters.
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3068
---
NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the various states are posted on the NRA-ILA
website.
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/
---
Appeal For Funds: KeepAndBearArms.com, one of the major sources I use to
compile these mailings, has issued an urgent appeal for funds in order
to remain in operation through this summer.
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/fundraiser.asp?
---
A List Member Responds: A few days ago I shared a link to an article
about a suburban Minnesota police chief serving as the poster boy for
the Bloomberg Bunch's effort to rescind the Tiahrt Amendment, which
restricts access to BATFE trace data, impeding lawsuits against firearm
manufacturers by cities. A list member wrote an excellent response to
the reporter.
Mr. Frommer,
I read your article about Chaska's Chief Scott Knight with interest.
According to the Minnesota State Crime Report for 2005 (most recent year
available), Chaska, MN had no murders, no embezzlement, no prostitution,
and no gambling crimes. It did have the following crimes: 8 rapes, 2
robbery's, 16 aggravated assaults, 23 burglary's, 120 larceny's, 4 motor
vehicle theft's, 4 arson's, 100 "other" assault's, 20 forgery /
counterfeiting, 21 fraud, 11 stolen property, 131 vandalism, 12 weapons,
18 "other" sex offenses, 108 narcotics, 22 family/children, 193 DUI, 79
liquor laws, 82 disorderly conduct and 173 "other offenses".
There are 14 more frequent types of crimes in Chaska than weapons crime.
There were only 5 types of crime committed in Chaska that were fewer in
number than the number of weapons cases (if you do not include those
crimes which did not happen at all). Of all crimes reported in 2005, 74%
are now closed.
In order of frequency, Chaska's crime problem looks like this:
#1 DUI
#2 Other offenses
#3 Vandalism
#4 Larceny
#5 Narcotics
#6 "Other assault's"
#7 Disorderly conduct
#8 Liquor laws
#9 Burglary's
#10 Family / children
#11 Fraud
#12 Forgery / counterfeiting
#13 "Other" sex offenses
#14 Aggravated Assaults
#15 Weapons
#16 Stolen Property
#17 Rape
#18 Motor vehicle theft (tie)
#18 Arson (tie)
#19 Robbery
There were a total of 1,383 crime cases opened, of which weapons
represented 12 cases or .0086767 which is less than 1% of the total
cases (all the weapons cases are closed). Looking at just the top three
crime categories, they collectively represent .359 of the total cases or
almost 36% of the crime cases in 2005 in Chaska.
This makes me wonder why the Chaska Chief of Police is going on TV and
radio to talk about an important crime issue to him that is really less
than 1% of his community's total crime problem? We do not know if his 12
weapons cases even involve illegal guns (or more accurately, legal guns
possessed illegally). The illegal possession of guns may or may not be
an issue at all in any of Chaska's weapons cases in 2005.
What a great place to live, unless you drink and drive.
Regards,
Gene German
Minnesota DPS Certified Firearms Instructor
Utah BCI Certified Firearms Instructor
AACFI Wisconsin State Director
Executive Director, Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance
www.permittocarry.us
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
