Another Dumb Idea: Earlier this month, Washington's Metropolitan Police
Department (MPD) announced its newest crime-fighting initiative: the
SafeHomes program, which encourages households to allow police to search
their property for guns and drugs in return for partial amnesty. Police
Chief Cathy Lanier said the program is aimed at parents who worry that
their children or another family member has a gun in the house but do
not want to face legal repercussions...The SafeHomes program (like the
gun buyback program) misses the mark. The police department should stop
wasting tax dollars and untold manpower hours on initiatives that give
criminals a free ride. Mayor Adrian Fenty should tell Chief Lanier to
nix this intrusive program and go back to the anti-crime drawing board.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080328/EDITORIAL/176514879/1013
Wayne LaPierre Comments: ...It's another example of politicians
targeting the gun instead of the violent criminal. It's not going to
reduce violent crime. It's only going to tell criminals they can get
away with violating the law, while putting officers at increased risk
and encouraging an atmosphere of government intervention at all times,
in all places. This plan should be scrapped before it can cause any
damage. And the politicians and politically appointed police chief
should get back to doing what works: locking up violent criminals and
taking them off of the streets.
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=376
---
Padlock Blamed in Pilot's Pistol Discharge: Inadequate handgun rules
designed by Department of Homeland Security officials are to blame for
last weekend's accidental discharge of a pistol by a commercial pilot
during landing preparations, a pilots association said yesterday. "The
pilot has to take his gun off and lock it up before he leaves the
cockpit, so he was trying to secure the gun in preparation for landing,
while he was trying to fly the airplane, too," said David Mackett,
president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance. "In the process of
doing that, the padlock that is required to be inserted into the holster
pulled the trigger and caused the gun to discharge." ("Inadequate"? How
about "inappropriate"? If these pilots can be entrusted with the lives
of hundreds of passenger when they are seated in the cockpit, why can't
they be trusted to wear a discreetly holstered handgun to and from the
plane?)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/NATION/927995814/1002
CCRKBA Calls for Independent Investigation: The Citizens Committee for
the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today is calling for an independent
investigation of an in-flight discharge of a pistol carried by an armed
U.S. Airways pilot to prevent any whitewashing, cover-up or scapegoating
in the incident. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said the incident is
alarming because of allegations that the pilot may have been following
strict Transportation Security Administration (TSA) rules when the
mishap occurred. Those rules came under fire today from the Airline
Pilots Security Alliance (APSA), which represents thousands of
commercial airline pilots...
http://www.sunherald.com/447/story/454279.html
---
Philadelphia Prepares Challenge to State Preemption: ...Council's
Committee on Public Safety approved legislation to limit handgun
purchases to one a month; require owners to report lost or stolen guns
to police; allow police to confiscate guns from people considered a risk
to themselves or others; require a license from police to bring a gun
into the city; ban semiautomatic weapons with clips that hold more than
10 rounds; and establish a registry for ammunition sales...This is a
second try: The same legislation passed last year but was never enforced
because it called for matching action by the state General Assembly that
never came. Clarke sued the General Assembly, and Commonwealth Court is
now deciding if the case can go forward. By suing and trying to pass the
legislation, Philadelphia is taking two routes to what it hopes is a
final destination: A review by the state's Supreme Court of its 1996
ruling that struck down local gun-control laws in Philadelphia. The
state House and Senate, joined by the National Rifle Association, have
challenged the city's ability to pass its own gun laws...
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080328_Safety_committee_OKs_gun-control_legislation.html
---
GeorgiaCarry.org Presses On: In January, GCO asked the City of Valdosta
to repeal two sections of its ordinances. One bans carrying firearms in
city parks and the other regulates the sale of firearms in the city.
Despite repeated follow-ups to the city manager, GCO has not received a
response. GCO now has sent the city a letter advising the city of GCO's
intentions to sue the city.
http://www.georgiacarry.org/cms/2008/03/26/gco-asks-valdosta-to-repeal-parks-ban-sends-notice-of-intent-to-sue/
GCO has settled its lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court against
Union City. GCO sued Fulton County and several municipalities in Fulton
County that banned carrying firearms in their parks. Union City has
repealed its ordinance and agreed to pay GCO its costs in bringing the
lawsuit. Defendants remaining in the case are Fulton County and the
cities of Atlanta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and East Point.
http://www.georgiacarry.org/cms/2008/03/24/gco-settles-parks-ban-case-with-union-city/
---
Ohio CHL Renewals Under Way: Four years after issuing the first
concealed carry gun licences, the Greene County Sheriff's Office is
beginning to do a brisk business renewing them. Those who in April 2004
obtained CCW licences, which permit the holder to carry a gun anywhere
not prohibited by law, including in a vehicle, may apply for renewal
beginning 90 days before to 30 days after its expiration date...So far,
the Greene County Sheriff's Office has renewed 32 of the 2,604 CCW
licences it has issued since the law took effect. The sheriff's office
has denied 20 applications, revoked 22 and suspended two, pending court
proceedings that could result in revocation, according to Maj. Eric
Prindle...
http://xeniagazette.1upmonitor.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=158851&TM=30316.52
---
"Always Think Forfeiture": ...The federal agency in question was the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Tobacco - that fine,
upstanding example of government "help" that we all remember so well
from their part in the massacre of dozens of innocent men, women, and
children at Mount Carmel near Waco, not to mention their racist company
picnic, the Good Ol' Boy Roundup, or the fact that their principal stock
in trade is enforcing a 40 year old unconstitutional law cribbed
directly from the above-mentioned Nazis. These are the same worthies who
are instructed by their bosses to lie in court if that's what it takes
to get a conviction, who employ "testing procedures" - with no written
or objectively established protocols - to incriminate innocent gun
owners, and who think nothing of destroying the businesses of gun
dealers based on questionable evidence. What these latterday
goose-steppers wanted, from the lowest bidder willing to supply them,
was 2000 Leatherman Micra combination tools...
http://www.jpfo.org/smith/smith-engraved.htm
---
Rule Four Reminder: A woman shot and killed an intruder and accidentally
wounded her husband in a northeast Harris County home invasion,
investigators told KPRC Local 2 Thursday..."The husband got into a
physical altercation with the suspect," Harris County Deputy A.J. Kelly
said. "The wife was able to retrieve a handgun that they had up in the
room and she fired shots, striking and killing the suspect." The husband
was also shot. Deputies said he was hit in the arm. They believe he may
have been hit by friendly fire from his wife. (While conventional wisdom
has been for the armed defender to create distance, sometimes it is
wiser to move in, particularly in case such as this, where a close-range
shot may be the only way to ensure that the selected target is the one
hit. Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond [or
around] it.)
http://www.click2houston.com/news/15720922/detail.html
More Details:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5653636.html
---
Meanwhile, in Tennessee...: A car thief and home invasion robber is
dead after a shootout with a homeowner in Hickory Hill...Investigators
say a man who had been breaking into cars on Hyacinth forced his way
into a home around 2:30 a.m. Friday, March 28, 2008. Once inside, the
crook got into a gunfight with the homeowner. The intruder was killed
and the homeowner was rushed to The Med with a gun shot wound. He is in
non-critical condition and preparing to give police a statement.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=fa05ddd4-6ef7-40fc-9031-9d6a69414618
---
While in California...: Deputies from the Humboldt County Sheriff's
Office arrested a man yesterday afternoon after neighbors in Blue Lake
allegedly caught him during a home burglary, a news release stated. At
about 2:45 p.m. a woman reported to the Sheriff's Office that she saw a
man enter her next-door neighbor's residence on the 400 block of Chartin
Way. The woman told the Sheriff's Emergency Dispatchers that her son,
Steven Wilson, 49, armed with a handgun, had attempted to apprehend the
suspect inside the residence and was now chasing him toward Rancheria
Road...
http://eurekareporter.com/article/080327-neighbor-apprehends-burglar-after-pursuit
---
Oops, Wrong Marine: A boy in his mid-teens learned Wednesday afternoon
that it is not a good idea to try to rob a former U.S. Marine at
knifepoint, even if the former Marine is 84 years old, police said
today. Santa Rosa police Sgt. Steve Bair said that's what happened
around 2 p.m. in the 1600 block of Fourth Street. The elderly man was
walking with a grocery bag in each arm when the boy approached him with
a large knife, Bair said. The boy said, "Old man, give me your wallet or
I'll cut you," Bair said. The man told the boy he was a former Marine
who fought in three wars and had been threatened with knives and
bayonets, Bair said. The man then put his bags on the ground and told
the boy that if he stepped closer he would be sorry. When the boy
stepped closer, the man kicked him in the groin, knocking him to the
sidewalk, Bair said. The ex-Marine picked up his grocery bags and walked
home, leaving the boy doubled over, Bair said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8716808?source=most_viewed
---
Former Ruger Exec to Head NSSF: The National Shooting Sports
Foundation's Board of Governors has announced that Steve Sanetti has
accepted the position of president and chief executive officer of NSSF,
effective May 1. The Board of Governors began the search for a new
president and CEO following its annual meeting in late February. Sanetti
is well known throughout the firearms industry, having spent 28 years
with Sturm, Ruger and Company as an executive and general counsel, and
been a member of the NSSF Board of Governors and the Sporting Arms and
Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) Board of Directors.
http://www.nssf.org/news/PR_idx.cfm?PRloc=share/PR/&PR=032608.cfm
---
Al Jazeera Video about Montana Gun Owners: From Gary Marbut: I finally
received a copy of the news segment the Al Jazeera news network did
about guns in Montana. The goal was to expose people of other cultures
around the World to our culture here in Montana. Al Jazeera wanted to
know, why is the Heller case important in Montana. This news clip was
supposedly seen by 100,000,000 (one hundred million) English-speaking
people around the World. This news segment was in Al Jazeera's hour-long
news program on March 19th, 2008. This news program repeated every hour
for several hours.
http://www.marbut.com/videos.html
(In related news, al Jazeera's American anchor has resigned due to loss
of "autonomy."
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/03/american_aljazeera_anchor_quit.html)
---
Hydrostatic Shock Revisited: The debate between proponents of bullets
that are "light and fast" vs. bullets that are "slow and heavy" often
refers to a phenomenon called hydrostatic shock. This term describes the
ability of a penetrating projectile to produce remote wounding and
incapacitating effects in living targets in addition to local effects in
tissue caused by direct impact. There is significant scientific evidence
that "Hydrostatic shock" can produce remote neural damage and produce
incapacitation more quickly than blood loss effects...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_shock
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0803/0803.3051.pdf
http://www.eotacforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=55735&p=3363968#p3363968
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info