TSA Considers Broad Airport Gun Ban: The Transportation Security
Administration may allow airports to ban firearms from terminals,
parking lots, roads and other airport areas where many states currently
allow passengers to carry lethal weapons. Airport officials and
lawmakers are watching closely as the TSA weighs a request by
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to modify its security
program to impose an airportwide ban on guns. It is the first such
request to TSA from an airport. "Any decisions we make that affect
(Atlanta) could affect every other airport in the country," TSA
spokesman Christopher White said Thursday. Federal law bars passengers
from bringing weapons to or past airport checkpoints. But in many
airports, state law allows passengers to carry guns and knives in
unsecured areas such as a main terminal - often to airport officials'
dismay...
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/nationworld/93155.php
---
Michigan Law Does Preempt Local Regulation of Handgun Carry: At issue in
this case is whether local units of government are precluded from
enacting and enforcing ordinances that make local public buildings
gun-free zones. We hold that MCL 123.1102 preempts local regulation of
this kind, and contrary to defendants city of Ferndale and city clerk
Karen Pedro's argument, MCL 28.425c does not return to local units of
government the authority to regulate in this area. Accordingly, we
reverse the circuit court's order granting summary disposition in favor
of defendants, and upholding the validity of defendants' ordinance
prohibiting the possession or concealment of firearms in municipal
buildings...
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/documents/OPINIONS/FINAL/COA/20030429_C242237_47_85O.242237.OPN.COA.PDF
---
Illinois County Board to Vote on CCW Resolution: Richard Peddicord, a
retired law enforcement agent from Marseilles, said he's waited a long
time for legislators to tackle a possible concealed carry law in
Illinois - one of only two states without such legislation. "I've waited
66 years to see this come to Illinois," Peddicord said. The County Board
will have the final say Thursday, Aug. 14, on whether county voters will
have a chance to tell Illinois legislators - through an advisory
referendum - whether the state should enact a concealed carry law. If
Wednesday's joint committee meeting regarding the advisory referendum is
any indication of the full board's future vote, it appears the question
will appear on the Tuesday, Nov. 4, ballot...
http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=364627
---
Prohibitionists Get Free Billboards in Philadelphia: In April, Moms
Against Guns had a humble request: one affordable billboard advertising
its petition for stricter gun laws. Flash forward three months, and the
Philadelphia-based advocacy group now has 27 billboards citywide, with
at least six more on the way. The billboards will stay up through
November's elections - just long enough, the group says, for voters to
elect candidates willing to crack down on illegal guns. It's all part of
what founder Lynne Honickman called a viral campaign...
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20080719_Moms_Against_Guns_given_free_billboards.html
---
Lautenberg Queries NRA on Mole Accusation: ... "I write regarding Mother
Jones' recent expose of a reported National Rifle Association (NRA)
operative who infiltrated a number of gun violence prevention
organizations. This story contains serious allegations and I urge you to
address them quickly. According to Mother Jones, Mary McFate spent more
than a decade rising through the ranks at several gun violence
prevention organizations, including CeaseFire PA, Freedom States
Alliance and States United to Prevent Gun VIolence. At the same time,
however, McFate - going by the name Mary Lou Sapone - reportedly was a
paid "research consultant" for the NRA. As a result, McFate/Sapone was
in a position to learn about, and to report back to the NRA on, the
concerns, plans and strategies of various gun violence prevention groups..."
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/08/9211_lautenberg_presses_nra_on_sapone_mcfate.html
---
Oops, Wrong Trailer: A man was shot and killed early yesterday morning
in central Goochland County after he allegedly entered an unlocked
mobile home and tussled with the owner, authorities said. Adam Stone,
the homeowner, called the Goochland Sheriff's Office just after 3 a.m.
to report that he'd shot a man with a 12-gauge shotgun. Sheriff's
deputies responded to the 2300 block of Grape Ridge Court off Dogtown
Road, where Stone told investigators the intruder had entered the
bedroom where he and his girlfriend were sleeping before the struggle
took place. When deputies arrived, they found the body of Joseph
Clifford Johnson, 36, of the 900 block of North 30th Street in Richmond,
inside the bedroom with a fatal gunshot wound to the neck...
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-07-26-0080.html
---
Bad Move: In a span of two days, Brett Nichols went from being accused
of attempted murder to becoming the victim in the same incident. The
48-year-old Phillips Ranch resident was arrested Monday morning on
suspicion of attempted murder. Police said he had shot a man and dumped
the body in the hills near his home. But Nichols was released from jail
Wednesday afternoon after police determined he was acting in
self-defense when he shot David Rotela, a 22-year-old Rosemead resident
who survived the ordeal, authorities said. "It was a dumb move for me to
do that, to dump his body, but I didn't know what to do," said Nichols
outside his Edgebrook Drive home...Nichols, with a felony drug
conviction from the 1990s and no license for the gun, said, "I thought,
`A felon with a gun, this isn't good..."'
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_10050854
---
Rule One Reminder, Rule Five Reminder: ...Thinking the gun is empty is
the most common mistake in most fatal gun accidents. And for the two
cases here in Lubbock, the accident happens after teenagers find a gun
and start messing around. Now, we do have the right to bear arms, but
gun vendors say having a gun around the house without prior lessons in
safety is very dangerous. Keeping it properly stored may save someone's
life. A simple device that slips in to the trigger area is not only
cheap, but easy to use. Gun vendors say because of that fact, there
really is just no excuse not to keep one on your gun. Marshall Holmes,
Gebo's Gun Supply: "We always mention gun safety every time we're
selling a gun, or even showing a gun. Guns are not toys. Guns are you
know, guns are very dangerous. They need to be treated with respect.
And always treat them as if they're loaded." Holmes also suggests for
extra protection that you keep your ammunition separate from your guns,
that way if someone young gets a hold of one they won't have access to
the other. (Rule One: All firearms are always loaded. Rule Five:
Maintain control of your firearm. Distinguish those firearms in current
use for self-defense from those in "long-term" storage and don't insert
foreign objects into trigger guards - run a cable lock through the open
action if you must disable a firearm.)
http://everythinglubbock.com/content/fulltext/?cid=11471c
---
Rule Three Reminder: ...As the driver backed up the Mustang, it hit the
officer, who was standing behind it. His gun then went off, Chief
Collins said. Even though he had been hit, the driver sped down Remsen
Avenue, coming to a stop after slamming into a nail salon several blocks
away. The 18-year-old passenger hopped out of the car and ran, the
police said; he was captured a short time later. The 14-year-old
remained in the car, the police said. Both were taken into custody. The
driver was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, where he was
pronounced dead. Chief Collins said the officer who was hit by the car
and who fired the fatal shot was taken to the hospital and treated for
minor injuries... (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger
guard, up on the frame, until your sights are on the target and you're
prepared to fire.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/nyregion/08copshoot.html?ref=nyregion
---
Right Gun, Wrong Ammo: Dean Speir shares some graphic evidence of what
can happen if the wrong ammunition is fired in a high-power rifle.
http://www.eotacforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=57090
---
Brits Develop New Ammo-Tagging System: The tiny tags - just 30 microns
in diameter and invisible to the naked eye - are designed to be coated
onto gun cartridges. They then attach themselves to the hands or gloves
of anyone handling the cartridge and are very difficult to wash off
completely. Crucially, some of these 'nanotags' also remain on the
cartridge even after it has been fired. This should make it possible to
establish a robust forensic link between a cartridge fired during a
crime and whoever handled it. To date it has been extremely hard to
establish such a link because of the difficulty in retrieving
fingerprints or significant amounts of DNA from cartridge surfaces,
which are shiny and smooth. The nanotags, which are quite unlike
anything previously used in the fight against gun crime, could therefore
lead to a significant increase in successful convictions...
http://www.physorg.com/news136808322.html
---
The Effects of South Africa's Firearms Control Act: The South African
Firearms Control Act, or FCA, became law on July 1, 2004, and the chaos
that ensued was unbelievable. Although the government was warned
extensively about the implications of such poor ideological legislation,
what remains in summation is that the FCA supports and enables criminals
to ply their trade with impunity...Worst of all, the crime wave goes on.
Fewer firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens just make emboldened
criminals. The only other time that disarming of the public was done
with greater success was by Hitler and his Nazi's before the Second
World War.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=71717
---
From AzCDL:
We recently mailed questionnaires to all State legislature candidates.
Results will be posted on our website after they start coming in. We
will notify you with a link to the new web-page when it's completed.
AzCDL's questionnaire fit on a postcard and we provided return postage.
We asked every candidate to respond "Yes" or "No" to each of the
following statements:
* Law-abiding citizens have the right to carry a weapon, with or
without a government issued permit, in any place that they have a
right to be.
* Trained, law-abiding adult citizens have the right to carry their
weapons onto the grounds of schools, colleges and universities in
order to be able to protect themselves and others from criminals.
* Law-abiding citizens have the right to carry a weapon into a
restaurant with them while they dine, whether or not the
establishment happens to serve alcohol for consumption on the
premises.
* Article 2, Section 26 of the Arizona Constitution means what it
says. Our right to bear arms must not be subject to local laws.
* Law-abiding citizens who are forced to use a weapon in
self-defense should be presumed innocent of any wrongdoing unless
proven otherwise by the state, and should also be free from any
retaliatory civil suits by the criminal or his family/estate.
In our cover letter to all candidates, we told them that they could send
us an expanded response, but that anything other than a "Yes" was a
"No", and anything perceived as a "Yes but..." will be posted as a
"No." Unchecked boxes will also be treated as a "No."
We are updating out website to accommodate the questionnaire results,
and to show the legislator voting records from the recent legislative
session. We will "Alert" you when we have made the changes and the data
is available.
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/accomplishments.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
