Is Massachusetts Constitution Clue For The Supremes?: As the Supreme
Court gets down to work on the big question of the Second Amendment, let
us pause to consider the constitution of Massachusetts. One of its
magnificent peculiarities is that its bill of rights is written right
into the main document. There are some 30 of these articles, ending with
the famous formulation in respect of separated powers. It is article 17
that concerns guns. "The people," it says, "have a right to keep and to
bear arms for the common defence." There is another sentence about how
armies mayn't be maintained without the consent of the legislature and,
in any event, shall always be held "in an exact subordination" to civil
authority. Is this auspicious for advocates of gun control more
generally or is it inauspicious? We were pondering that question because
the Constitution of Massachusetts is widely admired, including by such
sages as The Great Scalia...
http://www.nysun.com/article/66979
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Heller As Seen From Alaska: ...Perhaps people living here, thousands of
miles from the nation's capital in one of the youngest states in the
country, are actually a little closer to the idea of individual rights
and freedoms than those in older, more "civilized" parts of our
nation...To be clear, there is nothing wrong with trigger locks or other
means of making sure firearms are safely stored, but we would draw the
line at government rules that make the choice of a firearm for home
defense all but impossible... (Actually, trigger locks are a poor choice
as they violate Rule Three by being inserted inside the trigger guard
when there is no intent to discharge the firearm.)
http://newsminer.com/2007/11/25/10085
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RKBA And Presidential Politics: The debate over individual gun rights
just has become a front line issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.
The United States Supreme Court decision to hear arguments on District
of Columbia v. Heller, the D.C. gun ban case, guarantees it... With
nearly 100 million American gun owners and a fluid nominating process in
both primaries, Second Amendment voters matter. In fact, their votes
could be the deciding factor in the volatile Iowa and New Hampshire
contests propelling the winner into the pivotal South Carolina and
Florida primaries... (Romney and McCain are Second Amendment advocates?
Only since this presidential campaign got under way.)
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2007/11/26/gun_rights_and_presidential_politics?page=full&comments=true
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The Second Amendment Wedge: Hillary calls them, "kitchen table issues,"
the political questions Americans take seriously enough to talk about
them privately, in their homes, among family and friends. Whether she
likes it or not, one of those issues is gun control...If the Republicans
seize this opportunity, they can make a "kitchen table" issue into a
"wedge issue" in 2008: one that will decide the minds of voters. One
Republican -- Mitt Romney - has spoken on this precise point. In his
interview with HUMAN EVENTS, Romney said his personal view was that the
Second Amendment granted the right to keep and bear arms to
individuals. No Democrat will say that...
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23590
The Romney Quote: "It's the right of the individual. I believe that our
Constitution vests in the citizens of the United States the right to
bear arms, to have weapons for their personal protection, for hunting
and for any legal and lawful purpose. I'd like to see our gun laws
enforced, to see people who use guns in the committing of crimes in jail
for a long time, but I believe that individuals have the right to bear
arms, and any incursion on that right, I would find in violation of the
constitution."
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23541
---
Huckabee To Shoot Skeet: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is scheduled
to stop in Spartanburg County Sunday for a skeet shoot and
meet-and-greet at the Spartanburg Gun Club...Piper called Huckabee the
"authentic, consistent, conservative" supporter of individual gun
rights, noting he received the top "A-plus" rating from the National
Rifle Association. "Gov. Huckabee has been an ardent supporter of the
Second Amendment," he said. "He's a true sportsman. He's someone who
believes the Second Amendment isn't just about the right to hunt, but
also that the Second Amendment is about the right to keep and bear arms."
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20071124/NEWS/711240312/1051/NEWS01
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Thompson Campaign Announces Sportsmen Committee: Today the Fred Thompson
campaign announced its Sportsmen for Fred Thompson leadership and
steering committee. Iowa State Representative and NRA Board Member Clel
Baudler, Gerald Stoudemire, Michael Bane, Bill Bunting, and Lee Ann
Tarducci will serve as Co-Chairs of Sportsmen for Fred Thompson..."Fred
Thompson has been an unapologetic supporter of the Second Amendment
throughout his career and I am honored to be on his team. He is
somebody that Second Amendment supporters, hunters, and sportsmen will
have as an ally in the White House," said Iowa State Representative and
NRA Board Member Clel Baudler. "He has the experience, commitment to
conservative principles and understanding of the rule of law that we
need leading this nation."
http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/5571896.html
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Guns Are For Liberals, Too: If there is one issue that alienates me from
my liberal counterparts, it's gun rights. So when the Supreme Court
decided last week to hear its first Second Amendment case since the
1930s, and as the College Libertarians raffled off a gun voucher, I felt
a bit alienated from other liberals. This experience has forced me to
re-evaluate what it truly means to be a liberal...We may not need a
compelling reason to own a firearm other than the fact that an armed
populace is necessary for the security of a free state. Anti-Patriot Act
liberals should realize that if they cannot trust the government to
respect the privacy of their phone calls or to grant proper due process,
then they should probably not also assume the government can be trusted
not to disarm its citizens in the name of public safety...
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/11/26/Columns/Mike-Eber.Guns.Are.For.Liberals.Too-3114793.shtml
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Richardson Stands Out As Pro-Gun Democrat: During his first term as New
Mexico's governor, Bill Richardson backed legislation allowing residents
to carry concealed weapons. When it became law in 2003, Richardson
applied for a permit himself. Although he has said he seldom packs heat,
the move was symbolic of a politician who has been largely supportive of
gun owners' rights. It also separates Richardson from the other
Democrats running for president, who tend to favor more stringent
regulation of firearms. Richardson's track record in Congress and in
Santa Fe has earned him accolades from the National Rifle Association,
which endorsed his reelection as governor last year. In September, he
was the only Democratic presidential candidate to address a convention
organized by the NRA to promote Second Amendment rights.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/FRONTPAGE/711260306
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The Spirit Of General Gage Lives On: ...In the spring of 1775 the
Massachusetts Colony was a hotbed of political unrest. The British term
for this was "sedition" (inciting of hostility against the government),
an offense against the crown and punishable by imprisonment. The British
military governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, was ordered by
King George III to suppress the rebellious Americans. On April 18th,
1775 approximately 700-900 British troops were sent to confiscate the
colonists' guns and ammunitions stored in the village of Concord, also
to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, for treason, punishable by
death (two very vocal patriots of the day) who were reportedly in
Lexington...
http://peoplesrights.org/articletemplate.asp?id=194
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Oops, Wrong House: An intruder was shot and wounded by a resident
wielding a handgun during a home invasion that took place about 5:30
p.m. Thursday at 401 W. Sixth St., the Monroe Police Department
reported...A call came to Central Dispatch as a home invasion in
progress. While police were on the way, according to reports, the man
who lives in the house was confronted by the intruder. The resident
fired multiple shots with a handgun, and the intruder fled. When police
checked the neighborhood, they found the suspect wounded and lying in
the roadway near W. Seventh and Smith Sts. The Monroe Fire Department
ambulance service took him to the hospital.
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NEWS01/111230046/-1/NEWS
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Jonesboro School Shooter Indicted On Federal Weapons Charge: A man
convicted as a 13-year-old for killing four Arkansas middle-school
students and a teacher in an ambush and released from a juvenile
detention center two years ago on his 21st birthday, faces new weapons
charges. Mitchell S. Johnson, 23, was indicted by a federal grand jury
in October on charges of possession of a firearm while being either a
user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The indictment came after
his arrest earlier this year during a traffic stop in Fayetteville, Ark.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071126/NATION/111260021/1002
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Washington Man Sentenced For Suppressors: A federal judge in Spokane has
sentenced a 51-year-old man to nearly four years in prison on charges
that he made illegal silencers for firearms. Michael G. Teasley pleaded
guilty to manufacturing an unregistered firearm and being a felon in
possession of ammunition. Two other firearms charges were dismissed as
part of the plea bargain.
http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_112207WAB_silencers_SW.2b89c16b.html
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The Plot Thickens: An arsenal of weapons, including assault rifles and
artillery shells, was secretly seized three years ago from the home of a
deceased former Albany police official who had helped dozens of officers
illegally purchase machine guns in the mid-1990s. The Albany Police
Department, State Police and the Albany County Sheriff's Department may
have played a role in the undocumented removal of weapons from the home
of William M. Murray, 64, a beloved assistant chief and avid gun
collector who died January 2004, six years after his retirement.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=641861&category=FRONTPG&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=11/25/2007
---
Japan Tightens Firearm Laws: Japan's parliament on Monday passed
legislation strengthening gun control following a spate of shootings by
gangsters, including the assassination of a city mayor in April and the
recent murder of a hospital patient in a case of mistaken identity. The
revision of the firearms control law is the first since 1995, and
imposes heavier punishments for gun crimes committed by members of
organised crime gangs...Japan already has strict gun control laws, and
firearms are mostly in the hands of registered hunters or "yakuza"
gangsters... (When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T262994.htm
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Flashlight Comparison: A member at American Backyard Forums has posted a
great deal of material comparing various flashlights on the market. (Of
what I currently own, I'm very fond of SureFire's A2 Aviator because it
offers me the choice of low-intensity, night-vision-sparing red light
for administrative tasks and high-intensity white light in the same
package. However, the entire world of lighting is undergoing a quantum
leap with the development of high-intensity, battery-sparing LED
systems. If you can safely hold off on the purchase of new lights, you
will probably end up with more light for less money in the future. The
SureFire X200B light I purchased a short while back, to mount on a
home-defense handgun, has already been replaced by the higher-output
X300 series.)
http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=53262
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
