DC Gun Bill Could Help Red-State Democrats: A bill to lift gun
restrictions in the District of Columbia could be the key to political
survival for Texas congressman Nick Lampson and other red-state
Democrats. As fall elections approach, these House members in
traditionally Republican districts hope to appeal to conservative voters
by pushing a bill that would eliminate D.C.'s restrictions on gun
ownership... Mr. Lampson hopes to appeal to conservatives in his
Republican-leaning district by touting his support for the Second
Amendment, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern
Methodist University...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-gunban_18pol.ART.State.Edition1.4d7ee6e.html
---
Chicago-Area Lawyers Draft Modified Gun Bans: Lawyers in the Chicago
area are looking for new ways to restrict handguns despite a recent
Supreme Court ruling that made bans illegal. The ruling found that
Washington, D.C.'s ban on all handguns violated the constitutional
rights of the city's residents. Since then, villages and cities around
Chicago have been getting rid of their bans. Nina Vinik is with a gun
control group but she says the court's decision wasn't all bad
news..."It's an opportunity to come in now and say, 'Okay, no longer do
we have a ban, let's look at what we can put into place.'" That's what
Vinik's doing. She's with a group called Legal Community Against
Violence and they're using their legal savvy to write up model gun
legislation that would conform to the recent Supreme Court ruling. The
idea is that smaller towns with few legal resources could implement the
restrictions, confident that they won't be hit with a lawsuit from the
National Rifle Association.
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=27743
---
Guns in the Hands of Good People: June 28, 2008, was a defining moment
in my life. It was the day I shot and killed a man in the defense of my
life and the lives of others. We all have defining moments. They might
not be as tragic as taking another man's life, but they are events that
change the way we look at things - or even, perhaps, how we live our
lives... (A very eloquent and positive account - my only issue is with
the "shooting to wound." Such shots may not be effective in producing
quick incapacitation but may still prove fatal, as they did in this
case. Legally, it is tough to defend a homicide if you cannot articulate
that you were prepared to take lethal action.)
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_10219218?source=most_emailed
---
Colorado Students Seek Campus Carry: A student group plans to ask
University of Colorado regents this week to allow people with handgun
permits to carry weapons on campus. CU Regent Kyle Hybl said he was not
sure if regents would take up the issue. The Colorado Springs chapter of
the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus argues that gun-free zones on
college campuses translate into a ban on self-defense...A state law
passed in 2003 allowed concealed weapons to be carried by permit in most
parts of the state, but then-State Attorney General Ken Salazar issued a
formal opinion that regents could regulate whether they allow guns on
campus. Campus police oppose a change in university guidelines. (When
seconds count, the police are minutes away.)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1541864~Group_seeks_change_in_CU_policy_on_guns_on_campus.html
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/18/pro-gun-group-to-lobby-cu-regents/
---
Oops, Wrong Punching Bag: Police in Metairie said a woman shot and
killed her boyfriend on Sunday in self-defense. Officers responded to
apartments on the 3900 block of South Interstate 10 Service Road just
before 8 a.m. Police found a man shot in his upper torso. He was taken
to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The victim was
identified as 30-year-old Corey Paul. Investigators said Carol Beal, 26,
and Paul had a history of domestic violence. Beal had filed a recent
complaint against Paul for battery charges. Sunday morning, police said,
Beal was inside her apartment when Paul called her threatening physical
violence and saying he was coming over. Paul arrived and forced his way
inside, police said. Beal told police that Paul attacked her, so she
fired two shots at him. No arrest has been made in the case. Police said
it appears that the homicide was justifiable.
http://www.wdsu.com/news/17215458/detail.html
---
Rule Three Reminder: In Athens, Matt Emmons was The Guy Who Shot At The
Wrong Target. Yesterday, in the exact same position, with a seemingly
insurmountable lead going into the final shot of the same event, the
50-meter three-positions Olympic rifle final - with complete redemption
one squeeze of a trigger away - Emmons didn't hit the wrong target. This
was worse. "I didn't feel my finger shaking, but I guess it was," said
the native of Burlington County, N.J... (Rule Three: Keep your finger
out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until you sights are on the
target and you're prepared to fire. Granted, this was an atypical
situation, with a rifle whose trigger pull is probably measured in
ounces instead of pounds and a target with a relatively small bullseye,
it is still a useful reminder of what stress can do to a trigger finger.)
http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/olympics/view/2008_08_18_Nerves_get_best_of_Matt_Emmons_again/srvc=home&position=recent
---
Rule Four Reminder: A 93-year-old Hemet woman shot at an intruder who
entered her home, but she missed and the bullet went through a window
and over a neighbor's home, Hemet police said Friday. The woman shot at
the intruder who entered her home in the 300 block of South Street
shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, Lt. Duane Wisehart said... The woman
told police she heard someone in her home and armed herself with a
pistol, then shot at the intruder as the man walked down her hall toward
her. The bullet went through a kitchen window of the small, two-bedroom
home, through a shade structure and over a house next door, Wisehart
said...The woman will not be facing charges, Wisehart said... (Rule
Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.knbc.com/news/17206175/detail.html
---
Embattled Idaho Gun Shop Reopens Today: Builders are working into the
night so that Red's Trading Post can hold the grand opening of its new
location on Monday. Ryan Horsley, general manager of Red's Trading Post,
said that despite some setbacks the store will open for business as
scheduled. The new location at 203 Fifth Ave. S. in Twin Falls -
formerly the site of Tribes Interiors - required a "significant"
investment of time and money in order to make the building secure enough
to store firearms, Horsley said. "The biggest thing we have had to deal
with is the installation of security," Horsley said... Red's began
looking for a new location about a year ago because its previous
location was too small, Horsley said... (Conspicuously absent from this
report is Horsley's successful battle with BATFE, over a few minor
clerical errors, to keep his FFL.)
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/08/16/business/local_state/142424.txt
---
Tangentially Related: ... Neither candidate shied away from a question
about which current Supreme Court justice they would not have nominated.
Obama's reply: Clarence Thomas. "I don't think he was a strong enough
jurist or a legal thinker at the time for that. I profoundly disagree
with his interpretation" of the Constitution, he said. McCain said he
would have never nominated Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer,
David Souter and John Paul Stevens. "This nomination should be based on
the criteria on a proven record of strictly adhering to the Constitution
and not legislating from the bench," McCain added. The Arizona senator
said he was "proud" of President Bush for nominating conservative
Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the court... (Unfortunately,
talk is cheap, especially at election time.)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/16/warren.forum/index.html
Related Commentary:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121901817146948231.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDg5NjI0NzE1OTc2ZDllMDU5NDg5OTdmNjQ3ODQ2NDE=
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
