Who Will Argue Heller?: The lawyer who filed a brief for members of
Congress and Vice President Dick Cheney in the pending Second Amendment
gun rights case at the Supreme Court yesterday initiated, and then
withdrew, an effort to seek time to join other parties at the podium
when the case is argued March 18. If the request for argument time had
gone forward, it would have been a highly visible rebuke of Solicitor
General Paul Clement, who has requested 15 minutes of time of his own in
the case D.C. v. Heller. With Cheney's participation in the amicus
curiae brief, it would have meant that two lawyers would be advancing
two different positions on behalf of the executive branch - something
the justices themselves might have frowned on...
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/02/arguing-over-ar.html
---
Interior Department To Re-Evaluate National-Park Carry Ban: The Interior
Department was expected to announce today that it would begin
re-evaluating regulations that currently prohibit visitors from carrying
loaded weapons in America's national parks. The agency's plans were
preempted, however, by yesterday's news that a gunman in Illinois had
killed five students and wounded 16 others before killing himself. And
so, out of respect for the dead and injured, who were killed by a
handgun and a shotgun, the Interior Department has - what? Changed its
mind? Thought better of its plans? No. It has merely postponed its
announcement until next week...
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/a-worse-day-than-usual-to-promote-guns-in-national-parks/
---
Wyoming To Weigh Castle Doctrine: Some Wyoming legislators want to
change state law to specify that homeowners couldn't be prosecuted or
sued in civil court if they kill anyone who enters their home illegally.
Supporters say the proposed "castle doctrine" bill is necessary to
specify that Wyoming residents have no duty to retreat from criminals in
their own homes. They say the principle goes back to the English common
law saying that, "A man's home is his castle."
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/02/15/news/wyoming/72ad443ab84b5a36872573ef008292a8.txt
---
Idaho Preemption Bill Pulled: Even after unloading a controversial
attempt to allow firearms on all Idaho's college campuses, a bill
forbidding local governments from banning guns misfired
Wednesday...After a public hearing, comments from the nine-member
committee made it clear the bill needed work. McKenzie, the primary
sponsor, withdrew the bill before it was put to a vote. Even before
taking public testimony, McKenzie told the committee he was dropping
colleges and universities from the bill. He agreed to the change at the
urging of Gov. Butch Otter and university and college presidents. At the
hearing, representatives for Boise State University and the University
of Idaho thanked McKenzie for leaving the schools alone.
http://www.idahopress.com/news/?id=3818
---
Arizona Committee Will Consider Campus-Carry Bill: A day after a gunman
killed five people and then himself on an Illinois college campus,
Arizona lawmakers were preparing to debate whether those with proper
permits should be allowed to carry their guns onto school grounds.
Senate Bill 1214, which a legislative committee will consider Monday,
would exempt concealed-carry permit holders from a state law that bars
individuals from bringing deadly weapons onto campuses of private or
public K-12 schools, colleges or universities in Arizona. (Bans on
firearms affect only the law-abiding. Illinois is one of only two states
lacking any statutory provision for concealed carry by private citizens
but that did not deter the murderer at NIU.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0216guns0216.html
---
Arizona May Clarify Vehicle-Carry Law: Rejecting police concerns, state
lawmakers are trying to make it even easier for people to carry
concealed weapons in their vehicles. Legislation awaiting action by the
House says anyone can carry a firearm anywhere in a vehicle, visible or
otherwise, without getting a special permit. Right now, having a
concealed weapon is restricted to those who have a state permit, which
requires completing a state-approved training course as well as
fingerprinting and a background check. (Actually, the "Misconduct with
weapons" statute has long had an exemption for some forms of unlicensed
carry in vehicles but it has been thrown into question by a couple of
appellate rulings which clearly counter the intent of the legislature.)
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/225448
---
Illinois vs. Israel: ...The terrorists infiltrated Makor Haim, a
kibbutz, sneaking into the main building of its high school seminary,
run by world-renowned Talmudist, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. The terrorists
entered a library room where seven of the boarding school's counselors
were meeting. Dressed as security guards, and armed with a knife and
what appeared to be a gun - it later turned out to be a toy - ordered
the seven to line up on one side of the room. A counselor, realizing
they were terrorists, drew his personal firearm and opened fire. Another
grabbed the fake gun from the other terrorist, wrestled him to the
floor, while the first counselor shot him. The terrorists managed to
stab two of the counselors before falling dead. (Another account of this
January incident was already shared with the list but recent events in
Illinois seemed to warrant a reminder.)
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Security/12596.htm
---
Michigan vs. Britain: When the Detroit Free Press recently revealed that
six years under a liberalized concealed-carry law in Michigan have not
resulted in higher rates of violent crime, gun battles at traffic stops,
more police slayings and other gloom-and-doom scenarios, the newspaper
put the lie to all the rhetoric against passage of the statute in
Michigan, and every other state where so-called "right-to-carry" (RTC)
laws have been adopted... Compare this record with what has been
occurring in Britain over the past decade, where a sweeping gun ban has
made it difficult to own even a shotgun for sporting purposes, handguns
are outlawed and fighting back can get you thrown in prison. According
to the Jan. 10 edition of the Guardian, gun crime in the United Kingdom
has jumped 400 percent in that decade...
http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_workman13_02-13-08_ES8JA6P_v17.38cb7f5.html
---
The "Stimulus" Bill In Perspective: President George W. Bush signed the
$168-billion Economic Stimulus Act on Wednesday saying it would be a
"booster shot" to help the economy get through a "rough patch."
Americans will begin to see their tax-rebate checks arrive in May - $600
for individuals, $1,200 for couples and $300 for each dependent child,
sent to 128 million households. Meanwhile, government spending is up
eight percent this year and the deficit will skyrocket, but Congress and
the President have decided to borrow $168 billion from China to get
consumers to buy stuff from... China. Actually, Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke says he hopes consumers will "spend it on things that are
domestically produced," but all we can say is good luck with that. We in
our humble shop do have a plan for that little extra cash: specifically,
purchasing a number of domestically produced Bushmaster ACR and Robinson
XCR "assault" rifles. That should be stimulating. (Several other
firearm-related items are interspersed in this issue of The Patriot Post.)
http://archive.patriotpost.us/pub/08-07_Digest/
---
Tangentially Related: While Michael Reagan has never been my favorite
commentator and I have never been a fan of John McCain, I think it's
worth considering this commentary, particularly in light of the fact
that our next president is likely to have at least two opportunities to
make Supreme Court nominations.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2008/02/14/ronald_reagan_would_back_mccain?page=full&comments=true
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
