Second Amendment Showdown: ...Not only does history demonstrate that the
Second Amendment is an individual right, but experience demonstrates
that the broad ban on gun ownership in the District of Columbia has led
to precisely the opposite effect from what was intended. For legal and
historical reasons, and for the safety of the residents of our nation's
capital, the Supreme Court should affirm an individual right to keep and
bear arms.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010898
---
Guns And The Constitution: ...The phrase "the right of the people" or
some variation of it appears repeatedly in the Bill of Rights, and
nowhere does it actually mean "the right of the government." When the
Bill of Rights was written and adopted, the rights that mattered
politically were of one sort - an individual's, or a minority's, right
to be free from interference from the state. Today, rights are most
often thought of as an entitlement to receive something from the state,
as opposed to a freedom from interference by the state. The Second
Amendment is, in our view, clearly a right of the latter sort...
http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110010902
---
Gangs, Guns And Political Games: ...In Switzerland every able bodied
person is required to keep and maintain an assault rifle in his
residence. Yet Switzerland has a very low incidence of gun violence.
Mexico, on the other hand, has very strict laws against its citizens,
and even some of the police, from possessing and carrying any firearms
(with the exception of a few hunting weapons). The gun violence in
Mexico by all reports seems about equal to Iraq. Every day hundreds of
poor disarmed average citizens are murdered, robbed, shot, and kidnapped
at gun point by well armed bad guys in Mexico. In L.A. the murder rate
is 3.9 per 100,000; in D.C it is 9.6 per 100,000; but in Nuevo Laredo,
Mexico, it is 33.3 per 100,000...
http://www.policemag.com/Channels/Gangs/2007/11/21/Gangs-Guns-and-Political-Games.aspx
---
USA Today Second Amendment Poll: Does the Second Amendment give
individuals the right to bear arms? (Click the link that says "VOTE."
Unfortunately, the question does not ask "Does the Second Amendment
guarantee the right of individuals to bear arms.")
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/11/beat-the-high-c.html
---
Robert Levy On Heller: ...Equally important, if the Supreme Court
affirms the D.C. circuit's holding, state gun-control laws could be
vulnerable to constitutional attack. But before that happens, two other
issues would have to be litigated. The first is the knotty question of
whether the Second Amendment can be invoked against state
governments...The second question is even more complicated: What
restrictions on gun possession and use would be permissible?
http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1564076.html
---
Thompson Woos New Hampshire Shooters: Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson
said Friday that New York City isn't a model for the rest of the country
and that Rudy Giuliani should stop basing his stances on his time as
that city's mayor. Thompson, campaigning at a New Hampshire gun store
with stuffed moose and deer overhead, told reporters that Giuliani too
often turns to his time as New York mayor to explain his support for
stronger gun restrictions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301108.html?hpid=sec-politics
---
Rule Two, Rule Three Reminder: A 24-year-old Riverside man died Friday
morning after accidentally shooting himself in the head at a local
firing range, police said. Surveillance video from the Riverside Magnum
indoor public shooting range showed the man loading a handgun and
appearing to inadvertently fire a single shot to his head just moments
after arriving. (Rule Two: Don't let the muzzle cross anything you're
not prepared to shoot. 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.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-range24nov24,1,5214109.story?coll=la-headlines-california
---
Rule Four Reminder: Police said a southeastern Indiana woman chasing her
dog was fatally shot by a neighbor after the dog ran through the
neighbor's property...Officers arrested Linda Lindauer on preliminary
charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide in Stroud's
death. Police said Lindauer apparently was trying to shoot the dog.
Instead, the bullet struck Stroud, who was visiting her grandmother's
home for the day. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's
beyond it.)
http://www.wlky.com/news/14674336/detail.html
---
Rule Five Reminder: A Sunday shooting accident that left a 6-year-old
girl in critical condition happened in the home of a hunter safety and
firearms instructor. Police said the girl was visiting her grandparents
in Ottawa County's Wright Township when her 8-year-old brother
accidentally shot her in the abdomen with a handgun at about 3 p.m. The
house is owned by Stephen Larson, 54, a member of the Great Lakes
Shooting Sports Association and a chief instructor of firearms,
according to the group's Web site. (Rule Five: Maintain control of your
firearm.)
http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2007/11/brother_8_accidentally_shoots.html
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
