Democratic Senators Go After Gun Shows: Gun-control advocates have been
largely stymied in their efforts to get significant new firearms
restrictions, but they still believe they can achieve one goal: closing
a loophole that allows sales at gun shows without background checks on
purchasers. This week, two Senate Democrats introduced legislation to
close that loophole in federal law, despite a recent failure in Virginia
- where a gunman killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in
April - to change a similar state law. Accompanied by family members of
some of the Virginia Tech victims, along with gun-control advocate Paul
Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Democratic Sens.
Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Jack Reed of Rhode Island unveiled
their proposal at a news conference Wednesday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gunshow1feb01,0,3396793.story
Related Commentary:
http://redstradingpost.blogspot.com/2008/01/anti-gunners-joining-forces-with-clear.html
While In Virginia...: Virginia Senator John S. Edwards (D-Roanoke) made
headlines this week when he unsuccessfully attempted to reopen debate on
the Gun Show Loophole issue during a Senate Courts of Justice Committee
hearing. Sen. Edwards promoted his proposal as a "middle ground
everybody could embrace" and derided those who he claimed wanted to use
the issue for "political reasons." His motion to reconsider failed by a
3-10 vote, with all but one of the committee's Democrats voting against it.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-31-2008/0004746862&EDATE=
---
No Guns For Felons?: ...The Bush Administration does not want convicted
felons to to lawfully own firearms. What if the convicted felon's only
crime was the civil disobedience of an anti-Constitutional, anti-gun
law? There are thousands of anti-gun laws on the books, many of which
have no relevance or influence on criminal behavior. Some of which are
considered a felony if violated. The laws vary depending on your
geographic location and there are laws at the city, county, state, and
federal level, making it confusing for gun owners and law enforcement in
some areas. A perfect example is the "Assault Weapons" Ban in
California. California is anti-gun state run almost entirely by anti-gun
legislators who frequently contend that the Second Amendment does not
apply to individual citizens...
http://www.libertybelles.org/articles/civildisobey.htm
---
Georgia RKBA Bill Awaits Senate Approval: Some in Georgia are trying to
expand the rights of gun owners. The state house passed a bill Thursday
that would allow Georgians to carry guns at bus stops, churches, and
even restaurants that serve alcohol...The Georgia gun bill passed the
House of Representatives Thursday and now needs approval from the
Senate. From there, the bill would go to Governor Perdue's desk for
final approval.
http://www.wrcbtv.com/news/index.cfm?sid=2372
---
Arizona State University Looks At School CCW Bill: ...Senate Bill 1214,
currently being debated in the Judiciary and Rules Committees, would
allow anyone with a concealed weapons permit to carry a firearm on the
campus of any state school, college or university. The bill was
introduced to the Arizona Legislature on Friday. Currently, criminal
charges could not be filed against someone who brought a gun to the ASU
campus - but there would be other ramifications, such as suspension or
expulsion for students, ASU Police Cmdr. Jim Hardina said. "Technically,
it's not illegal to have guns on campus," Hardina said. "But it's a
University policy issue." Certain buildings on campus, he added, are
marked as weapons-free zones and do not permit guns. However, the campus
as a whole does not have a weapons-free policy...
http://www.asuwebdevil.com/issues/2008/01/31/news/703380
---
Meanwhile, In Arkansas...: ...Griffith is a student at North Arkansas
College. He is the organizer of the local chapter of Students for
Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a national organization that is
working for the right of those with legal concealed gun permits to have
firearms on college campuses. Arkansas law currently prohibits firearms
on college campuses...
http://www.harrisondailytimes.com/site/news.cfm?dept_id=516928&PAG=461&BRD=1815&rfi=9&newsid=19242461
---
Ohio Bill Would Restore RKBA To Young Troops: State Representative Bruce
Goodwin (R-74) has introduced legislation that would restore gun rights
to members of the armed services or the Ohio National Guard who are
between the ages of 18 and 21. The bill would allow these servicemen and
women to purchase a handgun if the person has received firearms
training. Under current state law, even the young men and women who are
asked to fight and die for their country are subject to a gun control
law which has failed to achieve its goal of reducing crime committed by
young offenders.
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5098
---
Iraqi Policewomen Regain Firearms: Iraqi police officials have dropped
plans to disarm policewomen and give their guns to male officers
following an outcry from critics, who said the move was a sign of
religious zealots' rising influence in Iraq. Despite the turnabout,
which police confirmed Thursday, the U.S. military general who
introduced women into the police force said they remained hindered to
practice real policing skills.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0201iraq-police0201.html
---
Competing Protests In South Carolina: Protesters at the South Carolina
Statehouse calling for tougher gun laws Wednesday attracted
counter-protesters who are against more restrictions on gun rights. The
first group was part of ProtestEasyGuns.com, a grassroots effort that
was formed after the Virginia Tech shootings, during which 32 people
were killed. The protesters wore ribbons in the Virginia Tech school
colors...The counter-protesters are members of GrassRoots GunRights.
They wore t-shirts that read, "Guns Save Lives" across the back and
carried signs that said things like "My gun makes you safer" and
"Murderers prefer unarmed victims".
http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2008-01-30-0035.html
---
Bringing An Attitude To A Gunfight: A man who lives at a house on East
79th Street came home and saw three men in his home stealing his
belongings, Kansas City police said. He grabbed one of them, who had a
gun, and during the struggle, shots were fired. All three of the men ran
away, but one of them was hit. He got as far as a nearby corner, where
he ran into a restaurant and asked for help.
http://www.kctv5.com/news/15189064/detail.html
---
Student Threatened With Suspension For Glock Pen: A student has been
threatened with a 3-day suspension from school for bringing to campus,
and using, a pen with the corporate logo of the Glock company, a large
stylized "G" with the letters "lock" inside. Cooler heads eventually
prevailed, and the father reports that he was successful in convincing
the school officials to not only withdraw the threat, but also the
formal reprimand that already had been placed in his son's educational file.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59976
---
West Virginia May Teach Hunting In School: A significant drop in the
number of hunters in West Virginia has left a hole in the state's
budget, and one lawmaker thinks he has a solution: Allow children to
receive hunter training in school. Children as young as 10 years old are
already eligible for hunting licenses in the state, but training courses
are typically offered outside of school. Proponents of the plan hope
embedding training during school hours boosts interest.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/5502129.html
---
S&W Touts M&P Law-Enforcement Sales: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation,
parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 156-year old
company in the global business of safety, security, protection and
sport, announced today that it has recently received several orders for
its Military & Police (M&P) polymer pistols. Most recently, Smith &
Wesson received an order from the Colorado Springs Police Department to
equip the city's officers with 500 M&P40 polymer pistols. Other sizeable
agencies that have recently converted to the M&P pistol series include
the Atlanta Police Department, Charlotte Police Department, and Syracuse
Police Department. A total of 1,900 M&P40 pistols have been shipped to
the Atlanta Police Department; 1,650 M&P40 pistols have been shipped to
the Charlotte Police Department; and 500 .45 ACP M&P pistols have been
shipped to the Syracuse Police Department.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATH02331012008-1.htm
---
British Reporter Visits American Range: ...But then I did something
stupid. I actually went to a gun range. And I had a good time. This is
not a "how I went to America and came to love guns" type proclamation.
Instead it is an acknowledgement that the argument is far more complex
than I believed...In truth, most of the people there were sober,
average-looking, hat-deficient, normal people, and none of them were
wiping away drool as they shrieked "from my cold dead hands". I was
almost disappointed, almost, until a one-man vigilante death squad
turned up in the booth next to ours and made me laugh and cower in
unreconstructed horror simultaneously. But more about him later...
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/saptarshi_ray/2008/01/home_on_the_range.html
---
From AzCDL:
SB 1106 will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday,
February 4, 2008
SB 1106 provides for an optional lifetime CCW permit, and caps permit
fees at $99. CCW permits currently expire after 5 years and the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) can set fees administratively, without
Legislative oversight.
Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website:
http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html
Please take the time to send a polite note to the committee members, and
let them know that you want them to vote SB 1106 out of committee with a
recommendation for passage by the full Senate. The sponsor of the bill,
Senator Chuck Gray, is the Chair of the Judiciary committee, and one of
the thirteen co-sponsors, Senator Ron Gould, is the vice-chair of this
committee. We are not anticipating any problems at this point, but it's
still important to let the committee members know that you support SB 1106.
Below are the email addresses of the committee members in both
semi-colon and comma separation formats, along with a simple list of
email addresses for those who encounter email address formatting
problems. Use the list that is compatible with your email software.
List of members' email addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
As legislation progresses, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts
and at our website.
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Join today!
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright � 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved
(Note that a lifetime CWP will not qualify for the NICS exemption for
firearm purchases from licensed dealers.)
SCR 1009 will be heard in the Senate Government Committee on Monday,
Febuary 4, 2008.
If passed by the Legislature, SCR 1009 would allow voters in November to
prohibit the use of public funds (taxpayer money) for lobbying, while
safeguarding the ability of public agencies, departments, boards,
commission, and political subdivisions to provide expert testimony and
information to members of the Legislature.
When AzCDL's unpaid, volunteer lobbyists give testimony on a pro-rights
bill, it's almost guaranteed that there will be a lobbyist, on the
payroll of a law enforcement or prosecutors association, testifying to
defeat the same bill. Does that sound fair to you?
You pay taxes that are used to fund a public agency, theoretically for
your benefit. However, that agency uses your tax dollars to pay the
salary of a lobbyist to work at the Legislature, to ensure they get even
more from you in the form of taxes, while whittling away your rights.
The hearing should be quite a spectacle. The livelihood of dozens of
lobbyists who feed at the public trough is threatened, along with the
ability of agencies and local governments to easily dig deeper into your
pockets while stripping away your rights. This could be a real circus.
Please take the time to send a polite note to the committee members, and
let them know that you want them to vote SCR 1009 out of committee with
a recommendation for passage by the full Senate.
Below are the email addresses of the committee members in both
semi-colon and comma separation formats, along with a simple list of
email addresses for those who encounter email address formatting
problems. Use the list that is compatible with your email software.
List of members' email addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website:
http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html
As legislation progresses, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts
and at our website.
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Join today!
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright � 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights
reserved.
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
