GOA Ups The Ante In Sullivan Nomination: Gun Owners of America today
hammered BATFE nominee Michael Sullivan as "unfit for office"' -
characterizing him as a Massachusetts liberal who is cut from the same
cloth as Ted Kennedy. In its press release today, GOA called for
Sullivan's defeat and praised Senator David Vitter (R-LA) for holding
Sullivan's feet to the fire. GOA members should have recently received a
letter in the mail from GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt, asking them
to send postcards to their two Senators and to President Bush in
opposition to Michael Sullivan as BATFE Director. ACTION: Please make
sure that you send in your postcards (provided in the GOA mailing) to
your two U.S. Senators and to the President. The postcards ask your
Senators to OPPOSE the nomination of Acting Director Michael Sullivan,
and urge President Bush to WITHDRAW his support for the Sullivan nomination.
Not receiving legislative postcards from GOA? Or, the Gun Owner
newsletter? Joining GOA online will ensure you receive these and other
timely mailings.
http://www.gunowners.org/a022108.htm
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The Second Amendment In Context: With the Supreme Court's decision to
examine the constitutionality of D.C.'s gun ban, the nation once again
turns to an intense examination of the wording of the Second Amendment.
One way to understand an amendment whose words have confused generations
is to study its somewhat confusing text. But another way is to examine
at whose request the amendment was written...The Bill of Rights was
written by Congressman James Madison to fulfill a promise made to the
Anti-Federalists after pressure from that group had cost him a Senate
seat - pressure brought to bear because of his opposition to amending
the Constitution with a bill of rights. The Bill of Rights, then, as any
history book will confirm, came into being to satisfy the single most
suspicious, vociferous, and relentless foes of the new federal government...
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/20413/26/
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Twelve States Considering Campus Carry: Even before a gunman killed six
people and injured more than a dozen others in a lecture hall at
Northern Illinois University, a small but growing movement had been
underway at universities and state legislatures to allow students,
faculty and staff to carry guns on campus. Twelve states are considering
bills that would allow people with concealed-weapons permits to carry
guns at public universities. The efforts were sparked by the Virginia
Tech massacre last April. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, an
Internet-based organization with 11,000 members in its Facebook group,
is calling attention to the issue with a protest from April 21 to 25, a
week after the one-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech on
April 16.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-14-guns-shooting_N.htm
Related Commentaries:
http://spectrum.buffalo.edu/article.php?id=35549
http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=79834
---
Meanwhile, In Utah...: The senior at the University of Utah gets dressed
and then decides which gun is easiest to conceal under his clothes. If
he's wearing a T-shirt, he'll take a smaller, low-profile gun to class.
If he's wearing a coat, he may carry a different weapon, he said. He
started carrying a gun to class after the massacre at Virginia Tech, but
the student says he's not part of the problem of campus shootings and
could instead be part of a solution. Nick, who asked not to be fully
identified so his fellow students wouldn't know he carried a gun, says
he has had a concealed weapons permit for more than three years. But it
was Seung-Hui Cho's murderous campus rampage that made him take a gun to
class... (It would be wiser to stick with one gun or one set of guns and
adjust the wardrobe around the guns.)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/cnnu.guns/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
---
Meanwhile, In California...: Authorities responded Thursday morning to a
report of a person with a gun, which turned out to be an Reserve
Officers' Training Corps drill rifle, on the campus of Cal
State-Dominguez Hills in Carson...The campus was on lockdown during the
investigation, according to school officials. A posting on the school's
Web site at 9 a.m. said "the campus is closed until further notice due
to an emergency situation. Students, faculty and staff are asked to stay
home." ...A campus spokesman said the gun is made of wood and used for
ROTC drills.
http://www.knbc.com/news/15366741/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news
---
Parking-Lot Storage Debated Across US: With personal security a major
issue now in the U.S., a debate if employees should be permitted to
bring their licensed guns and kept under lock inside their cars or not
is brewing across the nation. Six states have considering bills that
prohibits employers from not allowing their staff to have a firearm
ready for their protection while driving home. No state has dared to
legislate a law permitting workers to bring weapons to the workplace,
but Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi and Oklahoma are
debating if employees may keep one inside their vehicles while in the
office or factory. The number of states mulling such a measure is
growing. (Oklahoma passed such a law, only to have it set aside by a
federal judge.)
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010099810
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Sixty-Six Illinois Counties Support RKBA: It's been nearly a year ago
that the Pike County board, at the urging of member Mark Mountain,
passed a resolution to oppose any new legislation restricting gun
ownership. The measure passed in April 2007. Pike County was the second
county in the state to pass such a measure, with Brown County being
first. Since that time the movement has taken off and as of last week 66
counties have passed similar resolutions and another five have the issue
pending... The measure has been voted down by only three entities and
never by an entire county board. Champaign, Rock Island and Stark
counties declined to pass the resolution.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19317702&BRD=606&PAG=461&dept_id=172213&rfi=6
---
Arizona Vehicle-Carry Bill Supported: We would guess that a fair number
of Arizonans regularly - probably unknowingly - break a law concerning
the concealment of a gun in a vehicle. Under Arizona law, drivers who
want to have a gun in their vehicle when they travel have to be careful
where they put it. It's OK to have it anyplace where it is visible, for
example laying on the car seat. It's also OK to have a loaded gun in the
glove box, map box or trunk of the car. But you better not have it under
your seat unless you have a concealed weapons permit... (While support
is welcome, the editorial does not fully explain current law, which is
totally muddied by poor appellate decisions.)
http://www.yumasun.com/opinion/law_39857___article.html/gun_vehicle.html
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Castle Doctrine Alive And Well In Texas: In Texas, more than ever
before, burglars and thieves are on notice. From a quiet street in an
upscale neighborhood outside Houston to a junk-strewn yard on the other
side of the tracks, some Texans are shooting first and asking questions
later. In the Lone Star state, where the six-gun tamed the frontier,
shooting bad guys is a time-honored tradition. But a new state law,
based on the old idea that "a man's home is his castle," gives Texans
unprecedented legal authority to use deadly force...So in Texas, the old
tradition of shooting bad guys carries on. The big question now is
whether a man's castle also includes ... his neighbor's home.
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4272882&page=1
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On The Other Hand...: A Brighton (TN) man shot and killed a 44-year-old
registered sex offender who attacked two women in their home early this
morning, officials said. According to Dist. Atty. Gen. Mike Dunavant,
David Fleming charged into the home of two women at about 3 a.m. Fleming
bound the women but one escaped and ran to a nearby home. Dunavant said
Fleming, who lived in Munford, intended to rape the women. The woman who
escaped went to the nearby home of Keith Ingram for help, Dunavant said.
Ingram, carrying a .40-caliber handgun, ran to the house and found
Fleming attacking the other woman, officials said. When Fleming tried to
attack Ingram, Dunavant said Ingram shot Fleming once.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/feb/19/e19attackweb/
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Not Exactly Self-Defense: A McDowell County man accused in a fatal
shootout faces a rare dueling charge. The McDowell County grand jury
indicted 47-year-old Steven Bryant Simpson Jr. of Gilliam Bottom on one
count of murder by dueling Wednesday. State Police Senior Trooper J.S.
McCarty says the charge carries the same penalty as first-degree murder.
That means Simpson could face life in prison if convicted. Simpson is
accused of killing 39-year-old Dana Martin of Worth in an April 20,
2007, shootout a few hundred yards from Simpson's home. McCarty says
both men fired guns following an argument. The dueling law was enacted
in 1849 before West Virginia achieved statehood.
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/15834622.html
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Which Side Of Obama's Mouth Do You Believe?: Senator Obama recently gave
us a disturbing foretaste of the contradictory doublespeak we could
expect under an Obama presidency...Noting that some argue that the
Second Amendment only grants state governments the power to arm National
Guard units, Mr. Obama said he rejected that view in favor of the widely
held belief that the Second Amendment - like the rest of the Bill of
Rights - involves rights held by American citizens. The Drudge Report
last week carried the story with the title, "Obama Supports Individual
Gun Rights." But that title was wrong...He went on to say that local
governments should be able to enact any gun control laws they consider
necessary to end gun violence, and that any such measures are
constitutional...
http://www.nysun.com/article/71591
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
