Texas School Stays Under Spotlight: Students in this tiny town of grain
silos and ranch-style houses spent much of the first couple of days in
school this week trying to guess which of their teachers were carrying
pistols under their clothes...The school board decided that teachers
with concealed guns were a better form of security than armed peace
officers, since an attacker would not know whom to shoot first, Mr.
Thweatt said. Teachers have received training from a private security
consultant and will use special ammunition designed to prevent
ricocheting, he added...Texas gun laws ban the weapons on school
property. But the Legislature carved out an exception allowing school
boards to permit people with concealed handgun licenses to carry their
weapons. No local district had taken advantage of the exception until
the Harrold school board acted...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/us/29texas.html?ref=us&pagewanted=all
Related Commentary: ...So why not arm the kindergarten teacher? It's a
foolish idea. Schools are for teaching, and teaching impressionable
students that people must carry weapons to protect themselves in
ordinary circumstances will not lead to a civilization in which guns
aren't needed. There is a place for firearms - hunting, collections,
target and other sports shooting, certain careers, et cetera - but
school isn't on that list... (It's amazing that the same people who ask
parents to turn over the upbringing of their children to the state are
so determined that those children should remain vulnerable in the
process. While teachers should be able to defend themselves at school,
they should also be able to defend their students.)
http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/OPINION01/808280302
A Canadian Visits Columbine High School: ...So I went to Columbine and
asked a survivor about the legacy of 12 slaughtered kids and one
teacher, and what might have deterred the boys who committed this act,
or stop the next one. "If we would have had metal detectors, they would
have just killed the people running them," the witness said. This was
the principal, Frank DeAngelis, in his 30th year at Columbine High,
sitting in the same chair in the same office where he first heard the
gunfire on the April day in 1999 when students named Eric Harris and
Dylan Klebold blasted their sickness and confusion into 36 friends and
instructors, and then into their own mouths and brains...
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=751887
---
Obama's Gun-Ban Rhetoric: Sen. Barack Obama's campaign just won't let
the gun issue rest. Mr. Obama and his campaign surrogates continue to
assure gun owners that he is on their side, and it appears to be paying
off. John McCain only leads Mr. Obama among hunters by 14 percentage
points, just about half the 27-point lead that President Bush held over
John Kerry in 2004. If Mr. McCain had a similar lead, he would be ahead
in most polls, particularly in many battle ground states. Yet, despite
all the Democratic claims to the contrary, Mr. Obama is undoubtedly the
most anti-gun candidate ever nominated by a major party for president...
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/29/obamas-gun-ban-rhetoric/
---
What Obama's 1999 Proposal Would Mean to Denver: In 1999 Obama suggested
a law that would prevent all gun stores within a five mile radius of
schools and parks (See Obama's Draconian Gun Control). In the following
map, the white area is the calculated exclusion zone along the I-25
corridor around Denver and farther north and south along the highway to
the borders of Colorado. The exclusion zone extends from north of Fort
Collins to south of Colorado Springs varying from about 5 miles to
probably 60 miles wide. The map calculation is just for schools. Parks
have not been brought into the equation yet. Each pushpin represents a
school...
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5955
---
The Greek Chorus?: U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says Barack Obama is regular guy
who is no threat to gun owners. Tester said Thursday that he spoke with
Obama "straight up" on the gun issue. The senator says his fellow
Democrat understands the issue much better than he used to. Tester spent
a great deal of time with Obama on Wednesday when the presidential
candidate stopped in Billings. The two then flew together to the
Democratic National Convention in Denver. The National Rifle Association
has criticized Obama over his gun votes in the Illinois Legislature...
(Yes, he now understands how awareness of his earlier positions
threatens his presidential ambitions. Wasn't Montana's Governor
Schweitzer singing this same song for Obama a few days ago?))
http://www.abcmontana.com/news/state/27636469.html
---
From Obama's Acceptance Speech: "...The reality of gun ownership may be
different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by
gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second
Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals..." (I
strongly suspect that part of Obama's definition of a criminal is owning
a semi-automatic version of an AK-47.)
http://cosmicvariance.com/2008/08/28/we-shall-always-march-ahead/
---
Democrats Play Conservation Card: Stepping gingerly back into the
thicket of gun politics, some Democrats are offering up a few proposals
to make them less on the defensive on an issue that many claim cost
former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the
presidency. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Sen. Blanche Lincoln,
D-Ark., spoke at a National Wildlife Federation briefing Wednesday
afternoon, pushing efforts to expand conservation areas for hunting and
fishing grounds as well as better protection of the environment for
sportsmen...
http://www.nationaljournal.com/conventions/co_20080828_8741.php
---
Gustav and Guns: We just got a call from Devline Rossell, a charter
captain based out of Venice, Louisiana. He was shopping in New Orleans
to get some supplies before the arrival of Gustav (currently listed as a
tropical storm that has left at least 22 dead in the Caribbean) and
reported that the item most in demand was not food, clothing or shelter.
"I just left a sporting goods store and you would think that the
number-one selling item would be plywood or potable water or gasoline
right now," he said. "Apparently it is AR-15s and .223 ammo. I watched
at least 20 people buy AR-15s and cases of .223..."
http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/thegunshots/2008/08/whats-selling-i.html
---
Stay Out of New Jersey: A Pennsylvania man was injured in an accident in
Westampton Tuesday and then charged with unlawful possession of a loaded
handgun, police said. According to investigators, Gary Jones, 30, of
Glenside, Pa. was the driver of a vehicle that collided with another car
yesterday afternoon at the intersection of Springside and Valley Farm
Roads. Following the 4:21 p.m. accident, officers located a 10 mm
handgun in the console of Jones car, police said. The gun was loaded
with hollow-point bullets, police said. Jones had a permit to carry the
weapon in Pennsylvania, but New Jersey law does not permit him to bring
the gun to New Jersey, police said... (The hollowpoint bullets are a
separate violation in New Jersey.)
http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/bct/man-charged-with-gun-possession-following-accident-in-westampton
---
Nevada Homeowners Sue Over Shooting Park: A group of northwest valley
homeowners filed a lawsuit against Clark County on Monday, attempting to
stop the construction of a shooting park so far north of town that it
abuts a mountain. The plaintiffs object to the location of the park,
still under construction...It's understandable that families who have
just invested a sizable nest egg in purchasing a new home may be
concerned about anything they fear could impact their resale values or
quality of life. These residents may have a bone to pick with developers
or real-estate salesmen who failed to disclose information about the
long-planned shooting park - though notice requirements typically
involve 700-foot or quarter-mile proximities, with "caveat emptor"
increasingly applying at greater distances...
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/27591479.html
---
Oops, Wrong Shopper: ...Police say Joshua Eastman, 28, of East
Stroudsburg was unloading groceries at his car shortly before 12:45 a.m.
today when Reneau Jean Jacques, 17, of 77 Symphony Circle, East
Stroudsburg, pointed a handgun at him and demanded that he hand over his
money...Eastman then took out his wallet and pushed the door of his
truck more open to put it between himself and the suspect. Jacques
pointed his gun at Eastman's face. Eastman dropped his wallet and
started ducking down. Jacques fired a shot that went through the window
of the door almost striking Eastman and causing flying glass from the
car window to cut his face. Eastman pulled out a handgun he was carrying
and fell to the ground. He returned fire under the truck's door with his
pistol while the teen continued to fire his weapon. Eastman shot Jacques
in the lower leg and foot. Then Eastman ran back toward the store as the
teen fled towards Friendly's restaurant... (All's well that ends well
but I'm not sure that Mr. Eastman was fully prepared to use deadly
force. He did, however, hit his available target once me made the decision.)
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/NEWS/80828002
---
S&W Reports Overseas M&P Sales: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation
(Nasdaq: SWHC), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary
156-year old company in the global business of safety, security,
protection and sport, announced today that it has filled orders for the
company's M&P9 polymer pistols to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
in the Caribbean and to the Sindh Police Agency in Pakistan...
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/smith--wesson-ships-orders,520105.shtml
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
