Recent Gallup Poll: A solid majority of the U.S. public, 73%, believes
the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the rights of
Americans to own guns. Twenty percent believe the amendment only
guarantees the rights of state militia members to own guns...The Supreme
Court will soon weigh in on this issue, after recently hearing the
arguments in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the
Washington, D.C., ban on handgun ownership by city residents is facing a
Second Amendment challenge...The poll makes it clear which side
Americans come down on. Gun owners (roughly one-third of the U.S. adult
population) are nearly universal in endorsing the view that the Second
Amendment guarantees their right to own guns. Non-owners are less likely
to view the amendment this way, but a majority still do...
http://www.gallup.com/poll/105721/Public-Believes-Americans-Right-Own-Guns.aspx
---
The Devil Is in the Details: At issue in the D.C. vs. Heller case is not
only whether or not the Supreme Court will acknowledge that the Second
Amendment applies to private citizens, but also to what extent the
government can restrict our ability to exercise that right. Although the
phrase, "shall not be infringed" rings clear as a bell to gun owners,
the judges may take a different view. Further, the term, "arms" is not
specific and appears to have no legal definition despite the fact that
the American people consider the term "arms" to be synonymous with
"firearms or guns." While it is doubtful that the Supreme Court decision
will contain a long list of specifics in terms of regulation, their
opinion should convey the Court's opinion quite clearly and should be
broad enough to cover a variety of scenarios. With that in mind, we
would like to review several common anti-gun laws that serve no purpose
other than to infringe or restrict the law-abiding citizen's ability to
own or possess a firearm... (To my knowledge, the term "pocket rocket"
was coined by LFI instructor Michael Izumi, when he received his Ruger
SP101, converted to .357 Magnum by Rick Devoid, before Ruger offered
that chambering. The term was then picked up VPC's Tom Diaz, who
publicized it in a 2000 position paper
[
http://www.vpc.org/studies/pockcont.htm].)
http://www.libertybelles.org/articles/unreasonable.htm
---
Speaking from Both Sides of His Mouth?: When the U.S. Supreme Court
heard arguments last week about the Washington, D.C., ban on handgun
ownership, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado issued a news release saying
he hoped the court would affirm the right of citizens to "keep and bear
arms." But on four occasions when Udall, a Democrat running for an open
U.S. Senate seat, could have voted in Congress to repeal all or sections
of the gun ban, he did not. Udall campaign spokesman Taylor West said
the congressman did not support the 32-year-old ban but also didn't
think Congress was justified in overriding the district while the issue
was before the courts. "He believes in self-rule and the rights of local
government," West said. "The people should be able to set their own
laws." Udall's GOP opponent, Bob Schaffer, quickly seized upon the
statement, turning it into a campaign issue. Colorado voters have
historically supported gun-ownership rights, said Dick Wadhams,
Schaffer's campaign manager. Just recently, for example, applications
for concealed-weapon permits have skyrocketed in Colorado...
http://origin.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_8697333
---
Florida House Passes Limited Parking-Lot-Storage Bill: Without debate,
the Florida House gave the powerful gun lobby a major victory today by
passing a bill to allow employees to take their guns to work - as long
as the employee has a concealed weapons permit and the weapon is left in
the car. The bill (HB503) passed on a nearly party-line vote, 72-42,
with Republicans largely supporting the guns-at-work legislation despite
a last-minute lobbying push by business interests to kill the measure,
which they called an attack on business owners' ability to regulate the
workplace...
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/sfl-0326workplaceguns,0,76218.story
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/state/epaper/2008/03/27/a14a_xgr_guns_0327.html
---
Anti-Gun Employers Endanger RKBA: For years, pro-gun advocates have
rightfully pointed out that several key groups are a serious threat to
our gun rights. Most are avowed anti-gun organizations or have some
other emotion based argument for wanting to confiscate the guns of
law-abiding citizens. But, a bigger and more dangerous threat continues
to put our firearms rights in jeopardy - employers. Most of us need our
jobs to secure the financial needs of our families and can't simply
change jobs each time our employer does something to infringe on our
rights. Although in a perfect world, we would never be forced to make
the choice between financial need and safety, in practice people are
forced to do so more often in America every day...
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5540
---
Campus-Carry Debate Reflects Culture Wars: The debate over allowing
those with concealed weapons permits to carry those weapons on public
college campuses is a much broader and deeper conflict than it appears.
Most of the participants are barely cognizant of their roles in that
conflict, and that Arizona's university system is again another
battleground in the culture wars. Most American universities have become
advance outposts for the post-modern leftist dogmas dominating western
Europe since, and partly in reaction to, the Second World War. The
doctrines of internationalism, secularism, collectivism and pacifism
have been adopted by most EU nations and are slowly being imposed on the
rest. They have even infected most of the supposed conservative
political parties there and are generally accepted throughout much of
Western Europe and have permeated most American universities...
http://www.explorernews.com/article/show/21693
---
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin...: This week the pro-gun rights organization
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus announced that it will create a
chapter on the UW-Madison campus to lobby for expanded gun rights and
concealed carry on the UW-Madison campus. Although we welcome the debate
on this issue, we are strongly opposed to placing more guns in the hands
of students and faculty members...First, concealed carry on campus makes
a police officers' job exponentially more difficult. If concealed carry
on campus were permitted, officers would have to realize they may be
confronting an armed person in everyday dealings with Madison residents.
In the aftermath of a crisis, if a number of students have guns drawn, a
police officer must find a way to distinguish good student from bad
student...
http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2432
---
South Carolina CCW-Confidentiality Bill Advances: The public would not
have access to the names of people who can carry concealed weapons in
South Carolina under a proposal that appears to be headed to the
governor's desk. The House made a small change to the proposal Tuesday
and returned it to the Senate, which passed a similar measure earlier
this month. Senators are expected to approve the change and send the
bill to the governor's desk. The South Carolina House passed the bill
unanimously last May after a Virginia newspaper put a link on its Web
site with the names and addresses of that state's concealed carry permit
holders.
http://www.charlotte.com/205/story/552290.html
---
New York County Proposes Ban on Colored Pistols: Owning or selling
brightly colored guns may soon be illegal in Nassau County under a
proposed ban because the painted weapons could pass as toys, police and
county officials said yesterday. Suffolk County officials are
considering a similar ban. The proposal in Nassau County was spurred by
a Wisconsin company's introduction last week of a line of bright gun
paints called the "Bloomberg Collection," which taunts Mayor Michael
Bloomberg's 2006 ban of colored guns in New York City, said Nassau
police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey. (So much for "progressives" being
color-blind.)
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liguns0327,0,7809329.story
---
RKBA Scholar Runs for Idaho Senate: Clayton Cramer s running for Idaho
State Senate (District 22)...We're always saying we need more pro-RKBA
candidates, yet when we get them never seem to find any time or money to
help out. It makes me wonder why any candidate would ever give more than
general platitudes when asked about the Second Amendment, or ever go out
on a limb once elected - really - why incur the liability? Gun owners in
District 22 now have an opportunity to elect someone capable of leading
and teaching on the issue. Do you realize how special, rare and needed
that is? Wouldn't it be nice for just once to vote for someone you know
will represent your views, instead of holding your nose and doing the
same old "lesser of two evils" routine? (Cramer is a recent political
refugee from California.)
http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2008/03/running-man.html
---
BATFE Claims Increased Misuse of AK Rifles: ...Figures from the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, obtained by The Associated
Press through public records requests, show a marked increase in the
number of AK-type weapons traced and entered into the agency's computer
database because they had been seized or connected to a crime. The
number of such tracings rose even while the federal assault weapons ban
was in effect and has continued to climb since its expiration...ATF says
the increases in the first half of the 1990s are partly the result of
wider usage of its weapons database by local law enforcement agencies.
But after that point, the numbers reflect a real increase in tracings of
AK-type guns, the agency acknowledged...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326/ap_on_re_us/ak47s;_ylt=A0WTcV6ZqupHH4IB6B2s0NUE
---
Oops, Wrong Pharmacy: A pharmacist yesterday struggled with a robber
inside a Rite Aid pharmacy in Carmel and yanked away the shotgun the man
was toting, police said, shortly before officers arrived to arrest
him...As the man pointed his gun toward two women who work in the store,
Gallagher, who told investigators he feared the man would shoot the
women, grabbed the firearm, Smith said. After a struggle, the pharmacist
was able to wrest the shotgun away from the robber and fight him off,
the sheriff said...The shotgun went off accidentally as a deputy was
unloading it, firing a slug into the store's back wall. Investigators
said the gun might have gone off due to the damage it sustained in the
struggle... (Right, no way the deputy could have violated Rule Three by
placing his finger inside the trigger guard.)
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/NEWS01/803260359/1020/NEWS04
---
Limited Details on Airliner Discharge: A US Airways pilot whose gun
fired inside a cockpit said he was trying to stow the weapon as the crew
got ready to land, according to a police report released Wednesday..
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0327GunOnPlane0327.html
Related Article: ...Putting a gun into a holster and then threading a
padlock through the trigger and trigger-guard is required every time the
pilots enter or leave the cockpit. This kind of silliness has never been
forced on any law enforcement or security officers anywhere in the world
until now. Before this holster padlock procedure pilots with guns were
forced to carry them around in a cumbersome 22 pound vault. The vault
caused problems in the confined space of most cockpits...(The TSA
holster is pictured, complete with pistol and lock, in this article.)
http://www.crimefilenews.com/2008/03/gun-accident-in-airliner-cockpit-was.html
---
Bear Spray Rated Better Than Rifle: If you're roaming bear country, your
best protection against an unpleasant encounter is a can of bear spray,
not a gun, according to Brigham Young University wildlife biologist Tom
Smith..."The probability is the bear spray will outperform a firearm and
it's easy to see why. The spray is easy to deploy. The rifle is just
difficult to use," Smith said. Stopping a charging bear with bullets
required, on average, four hits. (There's an old joke about the
effectiveness of jingle bells and bear spray on black bear versus brown
bear that concludes with the statement that you can recognize brown bear
scat because it contains jingle bells and smells of pepper spray.)
http://www.sltrib.com/outdoors/ci_8699976
---
Ammunition Contractor under Investigation: ...With the award last
January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the
company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami
Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan's army and
police forces. Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is
more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an
examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with
American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the
aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that
the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and
obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27ammo.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
---
Arizona Reciprocity Update: I have just updated my list of states that
recognize the Arizona CWP to add Mississippi, South Carolina and West
Virginia. I was able to confirm the former two on the websites of the
respective states but could only confirm West Virginia on the Arizona
DPS CWPU list
(
http://www.azdps.gov/ccw/reciprocity/documents/Reciprocal_Agreements_Current.pdf).
This list, in the past, included reciprocity claims that have taken this
long to confirm but it was just updated a few days ago. In addition to
Alaska and Vermont, which don't require a permit for CCW, this brings
the number of states recognizing the Arizona CWP to 29. Note that
Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Michigan and New Hampshire require that you
be an Arizona resident in order for your Arizona CWP to be recognized.
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
