A Second Amendment Reminder: ... The Bill of Rights did not create
rights. It acknowledged them. Right before the July 4 holiday, it
shouldn't have been necessary to remind the four Supreme Court
dissenters of what Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..." The
Framers of the Second Amendment did not say, "The people shall have the
right to keep and bear arms." They wrote, "the right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2008/07/09/the_right_to_self-defense_affirmed?page=full&comments=true
---
DC "Needs" to Account for 36,000 Handguns: D.C. interim Attorney General
Peter J. Nickles said Tuesday that the city needs to "get a handle on"
the whereabouts of thousands of handguns that were registered in the
District before its 32-year ban took effect. "The presence of guns in
the District is a matter of great concern," Mr. Nickles said during a
"Live Chat" session with The Washington Times. "This concern was at the
heart of the handgun ban." The Metropolitan Police Department is unable
to account for about 36,000 of the 41,000 handguns that were registered
before the weapons were banned in 1976, Chief Cathy L. Lanier said Monday...
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/09/dc-needs-to-account-for-36000-handguns/
---
More on Mullenix v. BATF: ... Unfortunately for plaintiff, the Supreme
Court rejected this argument in Heller. See Heller at *26 (construing
United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), to hold that "the type of
weapon at issue [a sawed-off shotgun] was not eligible for Second
Amendment protection"); id. ("Miller stands ... for the proposition that
the Second Amendment right, whatever its nature, extends only to certain
types of weapons."); id. at *27 (finding it a "startling reading" of
Miller to suggest "that the National Firearms Act's restrictions on
machineguns ... might be unconstitutional"); id. at *28 ("[T]he right
[is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever....").
Accordingly, in light of Heller, the court rejects plaintiff's challenge
to section 925(d), and rejects plaintiff's claim that the Second
Amendment entitles him to possess the BD44 in this case...
http://volokh.com/posts/1215395769.shtml
---
Disney Suspends Employee for Gun in Vehicle: A new state law went on the
books Tuesday saying people could bring guns to work if they kept them
locked in their car. Disney, though, said it was exempt from the new law
and its 62,000 employees needed to keep their guns at home. Friday, a
worker who protested the park's decision told Channel 9 he was
suspended. The worker was well aware that he could end up losing his job
when he took the gun to work Friday morning, but said that the principle
at stake means enough to him that he was willing to take the risk,
especially on the day we celebrate the country and our freedoms. As he
pulled into work, Edwin Sotomayor recorded Sheriff's Deputies and Disney
managers waiting for him. After he refused a car search, managers drove
Sotomayor to their offices, questioned him further and then sent him to
his normal post. Four hours into his shift, Sotomayor says he was
suspended...
http://www.wftv.com/print/16792006/detail.html
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080708/NEWS/807080749/-1/RSS
---
"God Not Guns" Coalition: ... A project of the Brady Center to Prevent
Gun Violence, the "God Not Guns" coalition includes agencies of the
United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Presbyterian
Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and the National Council of
Churches, along with several Jewish groups. The American Humanist
Association is also a member, suggesting a very wide definition of "god"
in the name of opposing gun ownership and "gundamentalism."
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=50F16307-FA00-455E-969A-80E3F0FE9E5D
---
Jews Split on Firearm Ownership: ... The AJ Committee also expressed
"disappointment" over the decision, adding: "Gun control protects
liberty, rather than restricts it."' However, another Jewish view
prevails - that of the successful side of the case (District of Columbia
vs. Heller). Here, Alan Gura, lead attorney, said, "Jews, in particular,
should take note. It's puzzling. Many Jews seem to prefer heavy
government intervention, and it's not a good thing." Jews, he said,
"often have the mistaken belief that the government is a beneficent
force to always do good and help people out. Statistics indicate that
gun ownership tends to reduce crime and increase public safety.
Moreover, self-protection is a fundamental right," he added, "because
citizens cannot always depend on the government to protect them from
criminals or tyrannical rulers."
http://www.jpfo.org/alerts02/alert20080708.htm
---
Oops, Wrong Infant: An Avondale(AZ) man shot at armed robbers Saturday
night when they tried to take his infant during a robbery, according to
a police report released Monday. The Avondale family had started to
unload groceries at their home near Main Street and Litchfield Road when
three men approached the car with guns and demanded money. When the
victim, 52, said he didn't have any cash, one robber said, "get the
baby", according to Avondale Police Sergeant Memo Espinoza. The victim
pulled out a handgun and the three robbers started shooting at the man
and the house. The father shot back. The robbers ran away, and one was
crawling on the ground as if he had been shot, according to Espinoza.
The victim and baby were not hurt in the shootout...
http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b619dc9c-6734-4215-8eb0-74aed1b316e5
---
Oops, Wrong House: Police say they've arrested a man who tried to tunnel
into his neighbor's home. It was early Sunday, investigators say, when
Mark Mazur snuck into a yard on San Luis and dug a tunnel under the
fence. But his clandestine plan was thwarted by the homeowner's dog.
When he heard his dog barking, Robert Cash came outside - armed with a
handgun - and ordered the intruder to stop. Mazur, armed with a
blowtorch, started towards Cash. Investigators say Cash fired once and
missed Mazur, but the shot was enough to convince him to stop and wait
for police to arrive.
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6927585&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
---
Rule Five Reminder, Version 1: A group of mothers and children at a
Southwest Austin park found the loaded gun of an Austin police officer
who did not know for hours that his weapon was missing, officials said
Tuesday. Austin police Lt. Donald Baker said supervisors are reviewing
how officer Daniel Eveleth's Glock handgun might have fallen from his
holster while he was training a police dog about 5 a.m. Monday at the
Circle C Ranch Metropolitan Park on Slaughter Creek. Department
officials said Tuesday that they could not specifically describe what
training exercises Eveleth was conducting with the dog, why they were
being done at pre-dawn hours or the type of holster he was wearing...
(Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.)
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/07/09//0709gun.html
---
Rule Five Reminder, Version 2: ...Early Wednesday morning, while on a
seemingly routine assignment on patrol alone, Francis was shot and
killed in a struggle with a woman who had caused a disturbance with a
CTA bus passenger less than a block from his police station, police
said...When he stopped, the driver and a passenger told him the woman
was causing trouble. He radioed for backup and got out of his vehicle.
The woman, 4-foot-11 and an estimated 290 pounds, approached him. As he
tried to usher her away, she became irate and struggled with him,
grabbing his holstered gun, police said. She shot Francis as other
officers arrived and rushed forward, they said... (Something to think
about, if you carry openly.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-police-officer-shot-web-jul03,0,6898894.story
---
Most Guns Seized at Canadian Border Are Legitimately Owned: ... Canada
Border Services Agency officers regularly discover smuggled guns
destined for the Canadian criminal underworld, but most firearms they
turn up belong to otherwise law-abiding Americans, according to agency
intelligence summaries. "Most of the firearms seized by CBSA at the land
ports of entry are the personal firearms of legitimate U.S. travellers
who neglected - intentionally or not - to declare their personal
firearms," says the agency's strategic intelligence analysis division in
an undated report covering the period from 2004 to 2006...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080707.GUNS07/TPStory/National
---
From AzCDL:
When the Legislature adjourned, they sent HB 2389 & HB 2626 to the
Governor. On Monday, July 7, 2008, Governor Napolitano vetoed both bills.
HB 2389 was the AzCDL-requested bill that clarified that it is
permissible to carry a weapon, with or without a CCW permit, visibly or
concealed, anywhere within a means of transportation, excluding public
transit. Current law states that, without a concealed weapons (CCW)
permit, it is permissible to carry a weapon or weapons "in a case,
holster, scabbard, pack or luggage that is carried within a means of
transportation or within a storage compartment, map pocket, trunk or
glove compartment of a means of transportation." Unfortunately, in 1994
an Arizona Appellate court decision determined that "within a means of
transportation" meant it must be obvious under ordinary observation to
someone outside the vehicle that there is a weapon inside the vehicle.
This created conflicts interpreting the statute. As a result:
� Wearing a holstered firearm within a vehicle = concealed carry,
requiring a CCW permit. But, that same holstered firearm in a map
pocket, trunk or glove compartment, equally accessible by a vehicle's
occupants, does not require a CCW permit.
� Possessing a concealed weapons permit and being armed may put
other occupants in the vehicle, who do not possess a CCW permit, at risk
of arrest because of their proximity to your firearm. Yet, if that same
weapon were in a map pocket, trunk or glove compartment accessible by
all the vehicle's occupants, no crime is committed.
HB 2389 would have benefited law enforcement and the law-abiding, making
the law clear and rational, and not subject to confusing roadside
interpretations. In her veto letter, Governor Napolitano cited the
concerns of a few law enforcement lobbyists as her excuse for ignoring
the rights of law-abiding citizens. You can read her veto letter here:
http://www.governor.state.az.us/dms/upload/070708_HB2389%20Veto%20Letter.pdf
