Happy Trails: Many of you, particularly if you frequented Packing.org,
will recall the name of Russ Hamilton, who, during his time on the
Arizona DPS CWP Unit, did much to improve the Arizona CWP program and to
expand reciprocity and recognition with other states. Russ was
transferred out of the CWPU when the new director of DPS decided to
"civilianize" that program. Russ will be retiring from DPS today. Please
join me in wishing him a happy retirement.
---
IACP Report Lauded By Liberal Media: The International Association of
Chiefs of Police issued a report Wednesday calling for a ban on assault
weapons, arguing it will make officers safer by reducing the ``firepower
available to criminals.'' The report hits home this week in South
Florida, where law enforcement officials are still reeling from the
murder of one of their own. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, a former
police officer and police director, gets angry when he talks about the
fact that the gun used to kill Officer Jose Somohano was legal. (And the
officer would be less dead if he had been shot with a more powerful
lever-action .30-30 or bolt-action .30-06 hunting rifle?)
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/243811.html
---
McCain Attacks Giuliani On RKBA: Republican presidential candidate John
McCain lobbed a thinly veiled attack at fellow rival Rudy Giuliani,
describing the former mayor's "devious" attempt with a lawsuit "to
bankrupt our great gun manufacturers." Giuliani said he preferred to
focus on the lion's share of issues on which he and the National Rifle
Association agree. Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., and the former New York mayor
are among several officials speaking Friday at a National Rifle
Association conference. (That's rich - those two competing as supporters
of the RKBA.)
http://www.townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2007/09/20/mccain_to_criticize_giuliani_on_guns
Giuliani And The Lawsuit: Rudolph W. Giuliani will go before the rank
and file of the National Rifle Association on Friday, seeking support
for his Republican presidential campaign from a group he once likened to
"extremists" for its efforts to repeal the ban on assault weapons. But
even as the former New York mayor strives to burnish his Second
Amendment credentials at the gathering in Washington, a panel of federal
judges in his home town will be hearing arguments on the lawsuit that
Giuliani filed seven years ago aimed at punishing the nation's gun
manufacturers for violent crimes involving firearms.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR2007091902200.html?hpid=topnews
Giuliani's Long Shot With The NRA: Rudy Giuliani takes his presidential
pitch to the National Rifle Association Friday - a group he once likened
to "extremists" - but his past record as the Republican Party's biggest
gun-control booster will make it almost impossible for him to win broad
support, activists say...But as the head of one gun-rights group said
this week, "We're not buying it." If Giuliani had said "'On reflection,
I shouldn't have supported the national gun ban,' you know, I'd have a
lot less heartburn. But he's never really recanted," said Larry Pratt of
the 300,000-member Gun Owners of America.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usrudy0921,0,4329136.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines
Giuliani's Prohibitionist History: The 2007 version of Rudy Giuliani
defends his past support of gun control as a necessary evil to fight
crime in a big city. When pressed about his views of the Second
Amendment by Sean Hannity of Fox News, Giuliani attempted to tap dance
around his gun control record without alienating the 290 million people
who don't live in New York City. The former mayor told Hannity that gun
control was "appropriate" for the city, but that states and cities
should be allowed to make those decisions locally...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898866/posts
---
Thoughts On The Pennsylvania Instant-Check Shutdown: It was hard for me,
a non-lawyerly type, to understand how shutting down the Pennsylvania
Instant Check System (PICS) for a few days to upgrade the antiquated
program was a breach of the Second Amendment. I opined, therefore, the
shut down/up-grade of PICS was poorly timed, surely, but this, I
believe(d), could be perfectly "described as stupidity." No sooner had I
penned out and e-mailed that opinion to this paper, though, than I
started to have second thoughts. "Was I wrong," I kept asking myself?
"Was it really, as the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation
feared, 'a strategy ... for arbitrarily suspending the constitutional
right to keep and bear arms.'"
http://www2.theclarionnews.com/Opinions/68312.shtml
---
Phoenix May "Put Guns Back On The Street": Hundreds of guns seized by
Phoenix police could end up back on the streets every year under a
proposal to resell the weapons instead of melting them down. Phoenix's
vice mayor this week asked the Phoenix Police Department to explore the
issue of selling guns to licensed firearms dealers to fund the Silent
Witness program, which pays rewards for tips that lead to arrests. (I
guess the prohibitionists' concerns are that, since guns seduce their
owners into committing violence, those that have already been seized
once by the police are more likely to repeat that offense than a
"virgin" gun purchased new, from the same dealer, with the same
background check. Or maybe it's all just about keeping more affordable
used guns off dealers' shelves.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0921crimeguns0921.html
---
Dustin Gets A CWP: For anyone interested I wanted to share the process I
went through to get my Arizona CCW permit (permit to carry a concealed
weapon). Just for clarification for those unfortunate enough to live in
states that issue permits specific to a specific list of gun calibers,
Arizona is much better in that my permit allows me to carry any
concealed legal weapon whether it be a gun or a sword, although hiding a
sword could be a bit difficult in practice. (There are some instructors,
myself included, who continue offering CWP courses longer than the
current eight-hour mandate.)
http://dustinsgunblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/arizona-ccw-permit-process.html
---
Open-Carry Incident In Tennessee: Well, the Internal Affairs unit sent
me a letter today. Their determination was that the officer in question
violated the departmental regulations regarding "knowledge of laws and
regulations and courtesy". This occurred due to the officer's confusion
about the law in his previous state of police employment, Ohio, (I've
gotta try that sometime, "I'm sorry, your honor, I thought I was in
Ohio.") where open carry is prohibited...(According to
http://www.opencarry.org/, open carry is legal in Ohio.)
http://www.coltcco.com/?p=187
---
Bringing A Pocketknife To A Purse Snatching: A pregnant Gilbert woman
used her pocketknife to slash at and fend off a would-be thief early
Thursday as he tried to rip her purse from her shoulder as she walked
home. Police arrested Filemon Del Hoyo, 22, Abel Lorenzo Reyes, 18, and
Isidro Mendoza, 22, all of Mesa, after they reportedly attempted to
steal the purse of their target, Tracy Mann. But the tables were turned
and Del Hoyo became the target of Mann's knife as she slashed at him in
an attempt to escape his attack.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0921purse0921.html
---
From GOA:
Another GOA Member Running For Congress
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Pl Suite 102
Springfield VA 22151
(703) 321-8585
http://www.gunowners.org
Friday, September 21, 2007
Dear GOA Supporter:
Gun owners have compiled a very good track in targeted congressional
elections as of late. Most recently, gun owners were credited with
putting supposed underdog (and GOA Life Member) Paul Broun over the top
in Georgia's 10th district on June 19th of this year.
Now, we have yet another chance to send one of our own to Washington.
Maryland State Senator Andy Harris is running a campaign that could take
out the anti-gun Republican incumbent in Maryland's first congressional
district.
Wayne Gilchrest has established a reputation for being one of the
Democrat's favorite Republicans. Even though the Eastern Shore that
comprises much of the congressional district is strongly in favor of
firearms, Rep. Gilchrest does not seem to have ever seen a gun control
law that he does not like.
In contrast, Sen. Andy Harris, who has been in the Maryland Senate for
nine years, has been a very energetic spokesman for gun owners. He
became a GOA member even before he was elected to the Senate.
Harris fits the very Republican, conservative first district and seems
to be raising the funds needed to inform the voters of the district
about Gilchrest's record. Gilchrest votes against his district so
routinely that he has begun to identify publicly with the anti-gun
Democrats in Congress. Not long ago, Gilchrest congratulated gun grabber
Nancy Pelosi for her management of the House of Representatives.
A Harris victory in the Republican primary would replace an F rated
congressman with an A+ pro-gun leader. This is a great opportunity for
gun owners. But remember, defeating an incumbent is a difficult task,
mainly because it takes so much money to show people that the incumbent
is not who he has been saying he is.
Please support Harris' campaign for Congress by making an online
contribution at
http://www.andyharris08.com/GOA (a dedicated area just
for GOA supporters, so Andy will know the money is being donated
specifically in defense of the Second Amendment). If you prefer, you can
send a check made out to "Andy Harris for Congress" to P.O. Box 1527,
Annapolis MD 21404.
Let's get another one of our own into Congress.
Sincerely,
Tim Macy
Vice-Chairman
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
