More Americans Support Handgun Ownership: Many adults in the United
States believe handguns should not be banned, according to a poll by the
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 59 per cent of
respondents would oppose a law that would prohibit the sale of these
weapons, up four points since last year...
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/30744/most_americans_oppose_banning_handguns
---
Bloomberg Likely to Take Stand in Gun Lawsuit: ...As befits a court
proceeding stemming from a deeply held conviction, Mr. Bloomberg will
find himself confronting, in the defendant, a rather stubborn man of
equally firm belief. His name is Jay Wallace, and he is an irascible
outdoorsman who owns a sporting goods store in the Atlanta suburb of
Smyrna, Ga. With his wife, Cecilia, Mr. Wallace, 51, arrived in New York
City earlier this week in advance of the trial, which is to begin on
Tuesday. "I believe that I care more about firearms getting into
criminals' hands than the mayor of New York City does," Mr. Wallace said
on Wednesday at a pretrial conference at the Brooklyn federal
courthouse, where the trial will be held. "I'm in the business. I know
how my business is run."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/nyregion/22guns.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
---
Judge May Rule Next Week on Philadelphia Infringements: ... Common Pleas
Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan, who may rule next week on whether to allow
the laws to be enforced, has concerns with both sides. She repeatedly
suggested that the city is trying to enforce power that state
appellate-court rulings say belongs only to the state. "It is
crystal-clear that this firearm regulation is in the hands of the state,
not the city," Greenspan said during yesterday's hearing. But Greenspan
also questioned whether the NRA, representing its members, two firearm
organizations, two gun shops and four gun owners, has legal standing to
challenge three of the five laws...
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080521_NRA_calls_Nutter_a__tyrant__over_gun_laws.html
---
Philadelphia Gun Shops May Sue Mayor: The legal battle over new city
gun-control laws turned into a war of words beyond the courtroom
yesterday as Mayor Nutter laid into the two gun shops challenging the
ordinances. The lawyer for Colosimo's Inc. and Firing Line Inc.
threatened to sue the mayor yesterday after Nutter lambasted them for
selling multiple guns to individuals..."He may be inviting separate
legal action for casting Colosimo's and the Firing Line in a false
light," Shields said. "To suggest that they're engaged in illegal
trafficking of handguns is outrageous."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080521_Nutter_s__traffickers__label_angers_gun_shops.html
---
Trojan-Horse Group Mocks NRA-GOP Connection: ...What you didn't hear is
that many gun enthusiasts balk at the NRA's devotion to the Republican
Party. They resent the NRA for appropriating their values, radicalizing
their views and, perhaps, jeopardizing their ability to own guns in the
future. "In many circles, the NRA stands for the National Republican
Association," said Bob Ricker, executive director of the American
Hunters & Shooters Association, which last month endorsed Obama for
president. (The Obama endorsement says it all.)
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/411104.html
---
Auto Dealer Offer Free Gas or Free Guns: A Missouri car dealership is
triggering interest by offering customers free guns or gasoline with any
purchase, and despite the skyrocketing price of fuel, patrons are going
for the guns. "We are aware of the gasoline and crime problem in
America," states an ad on the website of Max Motors. It goes on to note
it "wants to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. What
we're doing is giving everyone who buys a new or used vehicle a free
handgun," said Mark Muller, the dealership's owner. "We have guns to
display, but we can't actually give them a gun, so what we do is give
them a coupon for a local gun dealer here in town so they can pick out
any gun they want. We recommend a semi-automatic." The certificate is
good for either $250 at Alton Arms or for $250 worth of gas. Muller told
WND no one has chosen the gas so far. (I'm not sure you can buy much of
an autoloading pistol for $250.)
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/05/21/guncarry.ART_ART_05-21-08_B1_CLA8QD3.html?sid=101
http://www.kmbc.com/news/16345443/detail.html
---
Louisiana Committee Kills "AWB": A pro-gun rights House committee
Wednesday shot down, 12-1, a bill to impose a statewide ban on assault
weapons starting Jan. 1. House Bill 68 by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New
Orleans, is dead for the session unless he can amend it onto another
bill. The only member of the House Committee on the Administration of
Criminal Justice who voted against killing the bill was Rep. Roy
Burrell, D-Shreveport... Richmond's bill would have required all assault
weapons to be turned over to State Police by Jan. 1. It also would have
required owners to register their weapons with State Troopers and pass a
criminal background check. Owners who qualify could pay a license fee
and get an annual permit. Assault weapons would be confiscated from
those who fail the background check. The bill called for a penalty of as
long as six months in jail, a fine of as much as $500, or both for
having an expired assault weapon permit. Individuals who did not have a
permit could be fined as much as $2,000 and face as long as two years in
jail, or both...
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1211434627144930.xml&coll=1
---
South Carolina Bill Would Exempt Taxes on Firearms: S.C. gun buyers will
be able to purchase firearms tax free during the biggest shopping
weekend of the year, according to a bill passed by the House today.
Second Amendment Weekend gives gun buyers 48 hours to buy guns free of
state sales taxes. The bill, which mainly deals with exempting sales tax
on energy efficient appliances, contains an amendment that waives the
tax on firearms from the Friday after Thanksgiving until midnight the
following Saturday.
http://thestatecom.typepad.com/ygatoday/2008/05/tax-free-guns-p.html
---
Utah Legislator Questions Non-Resident Permits: As the number of
concealed weapons permits issued by Utah continues to climb, public
safety officials told lawmakers Wednesday it might be time to stop
accepting applications from out-of-state. By the end of the year, Utah
is projected to have issued more than 40,000 concealed weapons permits -
nearly a 150 percent increase over 2007 and more than a 250 percent
boost from 2006. Slightly more than half of the permit applications
received since the beginning of the budget year on July 1, 2007, have
gone to Utahns. But since 1994, about two-thirds of the applications
have come from out-of-state...But committee member Sen. Bill Hickman,
R-St. George, was more interested in why the state was issuing concealed
weapons permits to non-Utahns rather than simply relying on existing
reciprocity agreements with other states... (Even as an Arizonan, my
Utah CFP allows me to carry in a few more states than my Arizona CWP.)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700228064,00.html
---
Ohio Castle-Doctrine Bill Needs Immediate Support: Governor Strickland
has made it clear that he supports these "reasonable and appropriate"
improvements to Ohio law. So with objections from the Governor's mansion
a thing of the past, an amended SB184 should be on its way to easy
passage, right? Apparently not. The amendment was not adopted by the
House Criminal Justice Committee today, as originally scheduled, nor was
the bill given a vote. Ohio gun owners and their friends who support the
right to self-defense need to contact their state representatives
immediately (especially the Republicans, who currently control the
committee and legislature as a whole) and encourage them to disregard
the rantings of the FOP and to join Governor Ted Strickland in support
of this amendment.
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5685
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5694
Related Article:
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/05/21/guncarry.ART_ART_05-21-08_B1_CLA8QD3.html?sid=101
---
Rule Five Reminder: Police are calling the death of a 3-year-old boy who
shot himself earlier this week a tragic accident. When others in the
room weren't looking, Tristan Dalton removed a handgun from a nightstand
and accidentally shot himself, said Cindy Scott, a Phoenix police
spokeswoman. Tristan, his mother and his 2-year-old brother were
visiting a friend near the 2500 block of West Marconi Avenue, north of
Greenway Road, on Monday, according to police. Around 2 p.m., the four
were upstairs in the master bedroom. The two women were talking and the
two children were watching television only a few feet away. Scott said
Tristan's mother and her friend turned their backs on the children when
the toddler walked to the nightstand, removed the loaded handgun and
accidentally shot himself. The handgun belonged to the friend's husband
who was not home at the time. Scott said Tristan's mother did not know
that the gun was in the nightstand. (Rule Five: Maintain control of your
firearm.)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0522childshot0522.html
---
From AzCDL:
It all started when a handful of Republican Representatives were absent
during the House Third Read votes on Tuesday, May 20, 2008. Just enough
were absent to erase the slim Republican majority in the House.
Democrats flexed their muscles, and bills started going down in flames.
Caught in this power struggle were two AzCDL supported, pro-rights bills
- SB 1070 and SB 1106.
SB 1070, an AzCDL requested bill that makes it easier for lawful gun
owners who have satisfactorily completed training to obtain a permit, or
renew an expired one, and SB 1106, Senator Chuck Gray's bill that
provides for an optional lifetime CCW permit, both failed to pass during
Third Read. Support vanished from virtually all the Democrats who had
previously indicated they would vote for them. To avoid an irreparable
loss, some quick thinking Republicans switched their votes to set up a
motion for a reconsideration vote. Both bills are now on the House
Third Read calendar for Wednesday, May 21, 2008. This is their last
chance for passage in the House. Hopefully tomorrow clearer heads will
prevail, absent members will show up, and SB 1070 and SB 1106 will pass
with the bipartisan majorities we had expected.
Please take the time to send a polite note to your Representative urging
them to vote for the passage of SB 1070 and SB 1106. You can find your
Representative here:
http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp .
Please be sure to include your name, address, and phone number in all
correspondence.
HB 2629, an AzCDL requested bill that clarifies when a defensive display
of a firearm is justified, was also scheduled for the House Final Read
on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, but, fortunately, was pulled from the
calendar. It will be rescheduled. HB 2629 passed the House Third Read
by a 33-26 vote (1 Representative not voting) on March 19, 2008, and the
Senate Third Read by a 19-7 vote (4 Senators not voting) on May 12,
2008. If HB 2629 passes the House Final Read, it will be sent to the
Governor.
Beware! The slim pro-rights majority in the House may disappear this
Fall unless YOU vote in local elections. The scenario that happened
today on the House floor will be the rule, not the exception.
Pro-rights bills will be killed in committees and rights crushing bills
like HB 2833, a stealth ammo ban which was dead on arrival this year,
would be zipping through the Legislature and heading to the Governor for
her signature. You can read more about HB 2833 at AzCDL's "News" page.
Scroll down to the article dated February 12, 2008:
http://www.azcdl.org/html/news.html .
House Caucus committees have passed HB 2389, an AzCDL requested bill
that clarifies that it is permissible to carry a weapon, without a CCW
permit, visibly or concealed, anywhere within a means of transportation,
excluding public transit, with a recommendation that it be sent to a
Conference committee, where differences between the original House
version and the amended Senate version can be worked out.
Meanwhile HB 2634, the AzCDL requested bill that clarifies that a person
with an expunged or set-aside felony conviction, or one who has had
their rights restored, may obtain a concealed weapons permit, passed out
of the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 and
is now on the Senate Third Read calendar for Wednesday, May 21, 2008.
Stay tuned! Information on these and other bills can be found at the
AzCDL website:
http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Join today!
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright � 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.
HB 2629, an AzCDL requested bill that clarifies when a defensive display
of a firearm is justified, passed the House Final Read on Wednesday, May
21, 2008, by a vote of 34-26, and was transmitted to the Governor, who
has already threatened to veto the bill.
It is VERY important to contact the Governor, and urge her to sign HB
2629 into law. You can use your own message, or you can use the sample
message below. Her email address is
[email protected]. You can also fax a
letter to her at 602-542-1381.
Or you can mail it to her at the following address:
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Governor of Arizona
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
You can also call her office, toll free, at 1-800-253-0883.
Following the sample letter are instructions on how to post your
comments on the Governor's website.
Subject: Please sign HB 2629
Governor Napolitano:
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that
important legislation, HB 2629, is awaiting your signature. I urge you
to sign HB 2629 into law.
HB 2629 would add a new justification defense to ARS Title 13, Chapter 4
regarding the defensive display of a firearm. The U.S. Department of
Justice has estimated that, nationwide, there are 1.5 million defensive
uses of firearms each year (National Institute of Justice, NCJ 155476,
May 1997).
In about 75% of defensive firearm instances, a shot is never fired and
the threat is dissuaded via a defensive display or warning (Gary Kleck
and Marc Gertz, "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of
Self-Defense with a Gun," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
86(1):150-187, Fall 1995).
Unfortunately, Arizona law effectively rules out the use of anything
other than lethal force with a firearm for self-defense. Under current
law, a defensive display can be, and typically is, categorized as
"endangerment"
(ARS 13-1201), "threatening and intimidation" (ARS 13-1202), "assault"
(ARS 13-1203), or "aggravated assault" (ARS 13-1204).
Opponents of this proposal have suggested that people are not currently
prosecuted for displaying a weapon when threatened with bodily harm, but
testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee proved otherwise. Testimony
during the hearing, especially from Michael Anthony, a recognized expert
in the field, and the author of the text used by AZ DPS to train CCW
instructors in Arizona's laws concerning the use of deadly force, shed
quite a bit of light on the reality of the situation. The simple fact
is that people are frequently arrested, and occasionally jailed, for
doing nothing more than displaying a weapon in an attempt to defend
themselves:
http://tinyurl.com/4vxdeq
The proposed language should reduce the necessity to use lethal force in
self-defense situations while assuring that law-abiding citizens are not
unfairly targeted for prosecution when attempting to diffuse a
threatening situation with a non-lethal defensive display.
Again, I urge you to support sound public policy, and sign HB 2629 into law.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, AZ zip-code
telephone number
You can go to the Governor's website,
http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp,
where you will find a fill-in-the-blanks form to register your opinion.
For "subject", scroll down and select "Legislation." For "topic", fill
in "HB 2629."
You can add your own polite message urging her to sign HB 2629 in the
"message/comment" area, or you can use the sample message above.
Meanwhile, back in the Legislature, the House recovered from Tuesday's
legislative shenanigans, and engaged in bipartisan voting.
SB 1070, an AzCDL requested bill that makes it easier for lawful gun
owners who have satisfactorily completed training to obtain a permit, or
renew an expired one, passed handily by 43-17 in a reconsideration vote,
after being defeated in Tuesday's vote.
SB 1106, Senator Chuck Gray's bill that provides for an optional
lifetime CCW permit, also recovered from Tuesday's defeat, and passed by
35-25 in a reconsideration vote.
Both bills will now go back to the Senate for concurrence and a Final
Read vote.
Over in the Senate, HB 2634, the AzCDL requested bill that clarifies
that a person with an expunged or set-aside felony conviction, or one
who has had their rights restored, may obtain a concealed weapons
permit, passed out of the Senate Third Read on Wednesday, May 21, 2008,
by a vote of 18-7 with 5 Senators not voting. HB 2634 now goes back to
the House for concurrence and a Final Read vote.
Stay tuned! Information on these and other bills can be found at the
AzCDL website:
http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Join today!
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright � 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights
reserved.
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
