Families Of Virginia Tech Victims Intensify Lobbying Efforts: ...Cho was
able to pass a background check and buy two guns despite having been
deemed mentally defective by a Virginia court. In response, Gov. Tim
Kaine, a Democrat, signed an executive order requiring that anyone
ordered by a court to get mental health treatment be added to a state
police database of people barred from buying guns. But people can still
buy guns through other means that require no background check in
Virginia, such as gun shows - vast firearms bazaars where scores of
people sell or swap firearms...Greg and Linda Gwaltney, whose son
Matthew was killed, are also gun owners and plan to push lawmakers to
close the loophole. They also hope lawmakers will reform Virginia's
mental health system, which both say needs a complete overhaul...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071228/METRO/764674229/1004
---
Bloomberg's Anti-Gun Group Advertises In Iowa, New Hampshire: The
Bloomberg-funded group Mayors Against Illegal Guns announced today it
has taken out newspaper ads in the Des Moines Register and New Hampshire
Union Leader to remind the (declared) '08 hopefuls and primary/caucus
voters about its crusade against illegal firearms. The ad features
Bloomberg front-and-center, and highlights questions from the
16-question presidential survey released by the group on Dec. 9, which
the candidates have been asked to fill out and return by Jan. 2.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2007/12/bloombergs-antigun-group-adver.html
---
BATFE Stages Dog-And-Pony Show: Spread across a conference table at the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Phoenix are
enough weapons to equip several carloads of drug runners. Agents said
Thursday they found the 42 weapons in a storage locker about 10 days
ago. The guns were worth $250,000 in all: Belgian-made "FN" handguns,
semiautomatic AK rifles and other pistols. They also found four olive
boxes loaded with 50-caliber bullets - ammunition that's big enough to
take out an airplane. (As I recall, .50-caliber bullets have been used
to take out airplanes - when fired from machine guns mounted on other
airplanes.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/218122
---
Texas Senators Support National-Park Carry: Texas' two senators have
signed on to a budding national effort to let visitors to national parks
pack heat. Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo is leading the charge, calling on the
secretary of the interior to overturn rules that prevent people on
certain federal land - including most national parks and wildlife
refuges - from carrying loaded guns...In Texas, the issue of guns in
parks has merged into a growing controversy over the Christmas
Mountains, a 9,269-acre desert range next to Big Bend National Park.
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has pushed to sell the property. He
has also resisted transferring the property to the National Park Service
if the federal agency insists on enforcing its regular firearms
restrictions.
http://www.alpineavalanche.com/articles/2007/12/27/news/news07.txt
---
Georgia Bill Would Expand RKBA: Georgia has more places off limits to
carrying a firearm than California. In fact, Georgia has more places off
limits to carry than any state in the nation. Shocked, surprised,
disgusted? Fed up? Finally ready to do something about it? If so, mark
your calendar to show your support of the 2nd Amendment Protection Act
of 2008 (HB 915). HB 915 rewrites the firearms laws of Georgia. It is
the most comprehensive overhaul of Georgia's firearms laws, ever. It
removes conflicting, confusing, and overly restrictive laws, like
Georgia's unique "public gathering" law. It decriminalizes open carry,
like the majority of states. It includes the Car Carry Bill from the
2007 session that GCO supported. It stops capers like Mayor Bloomberg's
straw purchasers. Did we say it repeals the ambiguous public gathering
law? It requires timely issuance of firearms licenses - no excuses, and
it includes the Katrina Bill, barring government confiscation of your
firearms during an emergency.
http://www.georgiacarry.org/cms/2007/12/26/hb-915-the-second-amendment-protection-act-of-2008/
---
Convicted Felon Claims RKBA: With the U.S. Supreme Court set to decide
whether the Second Amendment gives law-abiding citizens the right to
keep a handgun at home, a convicted felon in New York decided to test
his luck. The inmate, Damon Lucky, isn't law-abiding. Nor did the gun he
was convicted of possessing stay in his home. Still, Lucky decided to
"see how far we can ride this pony," his lawyer, Harry Batchelder Jr.,
said, referring to the federal judiciary's apparent willingness to
examine gun control laws critically. So this month, Mr. Batchelder,
asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to answer "yes" to a question that
makes many staunch gun owners uneasy: Does the Second Amendment give
convicted felons the right to carry handguns?
http://www.nysun.com/article/68607
Related Commentaries:
http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/12/just-our-luck.html
http://www.alphecca.com/?p=589
---
Texas City Targets Gun Range: Records show that top city officials spent
at least seven months discussing how to shut down a gun range, a move
range owner Ernest Randall says is aimed at helping a developer build
homes in the area. City Attorney Dick Gregg's billing records show he
participated in a series of meetings about how to "characterize a gun
range as a nuisance and ultimately have it removed." The legal fees cost
taxpayers more than $6,000 from May to November...
http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=3c59eaed91b2d80f
---
Oops, Wrong Old Man: A Central Florida man who collects cash for parking
at a church fought off five armed men who had ambushed him and demanded
cash. The 65-year-old victim, who did not want to be identified, said he
was collecting cash in the Parramore area before an Orlando Magic
basketball game when someone put a gun to his head. He noticed that that
he was surrounded by four other men as well. The man said he pretended
to reach into his jacket for cash but instead pulled out his hidden gun
and opened fire.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071227/BREAKINGNEWS/71227025/1086
---
Oops, Wrong Business: A man who reportedly sneaked into an east Dallas
business late Wednesday was fatally shot by a man who was guarding the
place, police said...A 24-year-old man, who was hired to guard the
business, told police that he heard a garage door opening, but the
remote-control opener had been stolen in an earlier burglary, McDonald
said. The guard then confronted the man, McDonald said. The guard said
the man approached him in a threatening manner so he shot him with a
handgun, McDonald said.
http://www.star-telegram.com/dallas_news/story/379326.html
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
