Brady Bunch Statement on Kennedy Illness: "Senator Kennedy has always
been a courageous champion of efforts to prevent gun violence. Last year
he was a leader in ensuring that the Congress passed legislation to
strengthen the Brady background check system. This year, he has been the
leader in the Senate in pushing legislation to use new technology to
help police solve gun crimes. Senator Kennedy and his wife have attended
many of our organization's events over the years, most recently last
month here in Washington. A year and a half ago, they hosted a warm,
memorable party in their home for Brady staff and Board members. He is a
cherished friend."
http://www.sunherald.com/447/story/574585.html
---
Illinois Needs State CCW Law: When Winnebago County Board member Randy
Olson, R-1st, asked me what I thought of a concealed carry proposal he
and Doug Aurand, D-3rd, planned to present to the board, I said I had no
problem with the concept. Forty-eight states allow people to carry
concealed weapons under certain circumstances. Only Illinois and
Wisconsin do not...So, if liberal states like Massachusetts, New York
and California have concealed carry laws and nobody's raising a ruckus
over it, the idea can't be that controversial... (Let's not forget that
while almost all states do have statutory provision for licensed CCW,
several are very restrictive in issuance.)
http://www.rrstar.com/news/columnists/x1867425619/State-needs-concealed-carry-law-not-county
Related Article:
http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/19088154.html
---
Eighty-second Illinois County Approves Pro-RKBA Resolution: The McLean
County Board approved a resolution Tuesday opposing legislation that
"unreasonably" infringes on the rights of people to bear arms, but the
vote wasn't unanimous or without controversy. Seven members voted
against the motion, but several of them said it wasn't because they
don't support the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Member
George Gordon previously made an unsuccessful motion to postpone the
issue until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a District of Columbia gun
case. He said he needed that information before voting on the county level.
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/20/news/doc4833049fad8bd045586754.txt
---
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Chicago Alderman Richard Mell (33rd) is a
former hunter with an arsenal of weapons that reportedly features
shotguns, rifles and pistols, including a Walther PPK of James Bond
fame. But there's a problem. Mell forgot to re-register the weapons as
required every year by the ordinance that he helped to pass as one of
the City Council's most senior members. So, what does an alderman do
when he finds himself in violation of the law? He writes a new law. Mell
has quietly introduced an ordinance that would reopen gun registration
in Chicago and create a one-month amnesty for himself and other gun
owners in the same predicament...
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/958879,CST-NWS-mell20.article
---
NYPD Officers Face Departmental Charges in Bell Shooting: Seven New York
City police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell,
including three detectives who were acquitted in a criminal trial, were
formally accused on Tuesday of breaking Police Department rules in the
case...Though neither Mr. Bell nor his friends had a firearm, defense
lawyers argued at trial the three detectives believed someone in Mr.
Bell's car had a gun because of comments they overheard outside the
nightclub. Additionally, the evidence suggested the shooting began only
after Mr. Bell had twice rammed his car into an unmarked police van...
(This case has been a tragedy for all involved and would not likely have
occurred if NYC officials were not so paranoid about privately owned
firearms.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/nyregion/21sean.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
---
Control Criminals, Not Guns: ...A few days after the murder of
Liczbinski, Gov. Rendell told a news conference, attended by state
elected officials and top law enforcement officials, "The time has come
for politicians to decide. You have to decide whether you're on their
side - the men and women who wear blue - or whether you're on the side
of the gun lobby." Instead of saying "whether you're on the side of the
gun lobby," Rendell should have said "whether you're on the side of the
criminal and the courts, prosecutors, prisons and parole boards that cut
soft deals with criminals and release them to prey upon police officers
and law-abiding citizens."
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/05/21/control_criminals_not_guns
---
Oops, Wrong House: A homeowner on Tuesday morning shot a 17-year-old
burglary suspect who police said broke into the man's home while he was
sleeping. Police said the incident happened in the 2300 block of Larry
Drive in east Dallas when the teen, who they said was skipping school,
forced his way into the house through the back door. The homeowner awoke
and confronted the teen, eventually shooting the boy when he charged the
man, police said...Shaw said the man was on the phone with a police
dispatcher as he held the burglar at bay, including when he opened fire.
The suspect, whom investigators said has a history of burglarizing
homes, was struck in the arm.
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6584212&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
---
Rule Three Reminder: A firearms instructor in southern Massachusetts has
been assigned to other duties after his gun accidentally went off while
he was teaching a class on weapons safety. Officials say the Glock
handgun discharged while Maj. Donald Lamar was demonstrating to Bristol
County deputy sheriffs how to safely holster the weapon. The bullet
ripped a hole in Lamar's pants but missed his leg and foot. Sheriff
Thomas Hodgson says the officer made a "gross error in judgment" by not
emptying the weapon before the class last week. Lamar, a certified
firearms instructor since 2005, was transferred to another division and
will not carry a firearm while the incident is being investigated. (Rule
Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guar, up on the frame, until
your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire.)
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008May20/0,4670,ODDInstructorapossGun,00.html
---
Life in Virginia: Five men sat around a table at Giovanni's New York
Pizza in Leesburg May 19, eating pizza, sipping iced tea and sharing
stories of what it's like to be a gun owner. A gun was holstered on each
man's hip, in plain view of the customers dining at the family-style
restaurant. The men, who are regular citizens, not police officers, were
openly carrying their firearms, mainly to exercise their right to do so
in the state of Virginia...A recent law passed by the Virginia General
Assembly would have allowed restaurants and clubs to decide whether or
not concealed-carry permit holders may conceal firearms in their
establishments for self-defense, but Gov. Tim Kaine (D) vetoed that
bill, saying that guns and alcohol should not mix... (However, as noted,
one can even consume alcohol while carrying openly in Virginia.)
http://www.loudountimes.com/news/2008/may/20/gun-owners-show-their-rights-leesburg/
---
No Posing by John McCain?: Gun owners have become experts at spotting
politicians pretending to be Second Amendment supporters. We've seen Al
Gore and John Kerry go through the posing and posturing. We've seen it
from Claire McCaskill in Missouri. And of course, we're seeing it from
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton right now. The fact that the Democratic
presidential candidates are trying to run as pro-Second Amendment
candidates isn't surprising. But that they're trying to pull off this
charade during the primary campaign is something new...
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=399
---
John McCain - NRA's "C+" Valedictorian: ...'A' rated candidates like
Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Fred Thompson dropped out of the Republican
race long ago, and former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr - an 'A-plus' rated NRA
Board Member and possible Libertarian nominee - doesn't seem to be
getting much respect from the NRA leadership. Instead they seem to be
settling for 'C-plus' rated Sen. McCain, someone they once called "one
of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment."
Making a 'C-plus' student the NRA valedictorian shows how much they're
really 'grading on the curve' this Presidential election year. (Helmke
is president of the Brady Bunch.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-helmke/sen-john-mccain-the-nras_b_102679.html
---
A Different View of McCain's NRA Speech: ...The NRA had announced
earlier that morning that the event was sold out. I'm not sure how many
tickets were sold, but the chairs that had been set up in the room for
the "sold out" show was only about 75% full at the start. Several
hundred of the best seats, saved right up front for Benefactor level
members, sat empty for most of the speeches, delivered by Ollie North,
John Bolton, Karl Rove, Govs. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, Sens. Kay
Bailey Hutchison and Mitch McConnell, as well as War On Terror veterans
Marcus Luttrell and Greg Stube (more on those speeches shortly). When it
got close to McCain time, a couple of what appeared to be McCain
campaign staffers came out and tried to shoe people into the empty
seats, presumably not wanting the host of media cameras in the room to
get a shot of McCain speaking to a bunch of empty seats. The attempt was
only partially successful - there were still probably close to empty 100
seats in the first section, front and center, when McCain took the stage...
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5682
---
Journalist's Guide to "Gun Violence": Guns are a sad fact of life in
American culture and are a major topic in modern journalism. A good
Journalist has a duty to get involved and make a difference in this
important societal debate. By following certain guidelines, the
concerned Journalist can be assured of having the maximum impact on this
shameful problem. The first principle to remember is that subtle use of
terminology can covertly influence the reader. Adjectives should be
chosen for maximum anti-gun effect. When describing a gun, attach terms
like "automatic," "semi-automatic," "large caliber," "deadly," "high
powered," or "powerful." Almost any gun can be described by one or more
of these terms. More than two guns should be called an "arsenal."
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/08/05/19/brown.htm
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
