US Number One In Firearm Ownership: A new report shows that when it
comes to gun ownership, the United States is the most heavily armed
society in the world. The Small Arms Survey found that there are nine
guns for every ten people living in the country, with about 270 million
firearms in circulation. As crime continues to rises, gun sales are
doing the same...
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7182011&nav=5kZQ
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First Anniversary For Michigan Castle Doctrine: The Michigan
Self-Defense Act created a new law establishing that a person who uses
deadly force for self defense in his or her home, contiguous private
property or occupied vehicle need not first flee from a threatening
attacker, and that a person who unlawfully and forcibly enters one of
these is presumed is to be doing so with the intent to commit an
unlawful act involving force or violence, with certain minor exceptions.
http://www.tv20detroit.com/news/10312657.html
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Oklahoma Ruling = Conoco-Phillips Boycott: In response to
Conoco-Phillips' successful lawsuit to overturn the Oklahoma law that
allowed employees to store firearms on company-owned parking lots, David
Codrea is calling for a boycott of their products and provides a link to
a feedback form for the corporation.
http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/10/conoco-phillips-pleased-to-have-federal.html
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"It's For The Children": Three national organizations for children are
fighting to save DC's ban on handguns...Three groups - the Children's
Defense Fund, the Society for Adolescent Medicine and the American
Academy of Pediatrics - filed a "friend of the court" brief Friday. (I
was unaware that Constitutional law was taught in medical school.)
http://www.nbc4.com/news/14296333/detail.html
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New Angle In Oregon Teacher's CCW Lawsuit: If the South Medford High
School English teacher wins her case (and I pray she doesn't), will
students have the right, for personal safety reasons, to not have her as
their English teacher? Will parents be allowed to pull their sons and
daughters from Shirley Katz's class for safety reasons? ...The
district's general policy has been to allow such transfers as long as
they don't create an imbalance in the number of students in each class
and as long as students are enrolled in a class that meets their
academic needs. The question of whether students would be able to opt
out of a class where a teacher is carrying a concealed weapon is new
territory for the district.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071008/NEWS/710080311
Related Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_re_us/pistol_packing_teacher
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Meanwhile, Back In Michigan...: ...A bill introduced in the state House
would allow teachers, administrators and other employees to carry
concealed pistols on public school property, if authorized by the
superintendent. Additional training could also be required for those
seeking authorization. "If your kid was in the school and there was a
bad guy headed for the door, wouldn't you like somebody to be in there
who could stop that guy? It seems really basic to me," Oberlee said.
http://www.countypress.com/stories/100707/loc_20071007001.shtml
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Banning Firearms Would Not Improve Safety: Large numbers of people in
this country believe that eliminating guns would make things safer.
Belief is an amazing thing. It lets liberal judges in New York allow
lawsuits against gun manufacturers because some thug used their product
to kill someone else. Under this belief system, it's just a matter of
time before Toyota gets sued because a drunk driver used one of their
trucks to kill someone. The same people also believed there would be
blood in the streets each time a state passed concealed carry laws. The
reality is, each and every time, murder and crime decreased faster in
those states than anywhere else (google John Lott, whose studies have
been reluctantly verified by some gun control advocates)...
http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200771008064&source=rss
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Virginia May Protect CCW Identities: Back in March, in an effort to
demonstrate access to public records, the Roanoke Times printed the
names and addresses of every concealed weapons permit holder in
Virginia. Now a new proposal would keep the public from using the
Freedom of Information Act to access identifying information about
permit holders. "A lot of the folks who were upset had gotten the permit
to protect themselves from a stalker, from an ex-boyfriend, or
girlfriend that was violent towards them," says Delegate Morgan
Griffith. The last thing they wanted was their gun carry status and
address printed for everyone to see. But even if the Roanoke Times had
not printed the list, it was still available to any citizen who
submitted a FOIA request to get it.
http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=7184972&nav=S6aK
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Bear Shooting Ruled Self-Defense: Wildlife officials say a female
grizzly bear died after a Pennsylvania hunter defending himself and his
companion shot the animal north of Yellowstone National Park. The
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks said it confirmed the bow
hunters' report. They said the bear charged them Saturday in the Tom
Miner Basin, stopped within 9 feet of them after bear spray was used,
charged again and was shot. One of the hunters fired a pistol twice.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071008/NEWS01/71008003/1002
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Rule Three Reminder: The U.S. Secret Service is investigating why one of
its agents shot his car last month during a United Nations visit by the
Iranian premier. Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren confirmed that his
agency's internal affairs unit has been asked to find out the details
surrounding an agent's "accidental discharge" into the floorboard of his
vehicle on Sept. 25 in Manhattan. (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://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/10/secret-service-.html
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Computer Crash Interrupted Tennessee Gun Sales: After almost three days
of being down, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's system for
conducting criminal background checks on potential gun buyers is back up
and running this afternoon. Kristen Helm, a TBI spokeswoman, said a
software issue "crashed the server" at about 1 a.m. Monday morning,
halting all gun sales in Tennessee for almost three days. But the server
became operational again this afternoon at about 2:30 p.m., Helm said.
Helm said the TBI would try to clear its "slight backlog" of background
checks by 10:30 p.m.
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=57265
---
Albany Police Still Investigating Full-Auto Purchases: Police Chief
James W. Tuffey told Albany lawmakers recently that dozens of machine
guns secretly purchased by Albany police officers had all been recovered
and destroyed. But two sources familiar with the matter said several of
the automatic weapons, which were obtained by Albany police officers and
at least one civilian in the early 1990s, remain missing...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=628233
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NRA May Endorse Candidate Before Iowa Caucuses: An Iowan who sits on the
NRA's board of directors says the gun rights group may endorse a
presidential candidate before Iowa's Caucuses. Kayne Robinson, a retired
Des Moines cop, is a former president of the National Rifle Association.
"We're constantly looking at the candidates and we talk with them and,
of course, we know them all," Robinson says. "There are a lot of
candidates who are very sensitive to Second Amendment issues and that's
how the decision will be made in the end and it's a tough one."
http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=8006807B-C787-3DA6-8BEA68ADB747237D
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Ron Paul Scores At GRPC: This weekend, I attended and spoke at the
Second Amendment Foundation's annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, which
was held at a convention center in northern Kentucky, a few miles away
from Cincinnati. What I saw and heard there changed my mind about the
viability of Ron Paul's presidential candidacy; Paul is going to far
outperform the expectations laid out for him.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGVhODdiZjY5NDljNDA5NWUwYTY1NmJmZDBiOWQzM2I=
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Larry Craig To Remain On NRA Board: Sen. Larry Craig says he plans to
remain a National Rifle Association board member, where he's been a
strong advocate for gun rights. A spokesman for Craig confirmed Monday
that he would stay on the NRA board. Last week, a Minnesota judge
rejected Craig's bid to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct
stemming from his arrest in an airport sex-sting arrest. The 62-year-old
Republican lawmaker had earlier said he would quit the U.S. Senate if he
couldn't withdraw his plea, but now says he plans to stay in the Senate
until his term expires in 2009.
http://www.6onyourside.com/Global/story.asp?S=7185136
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
