Ohio CCW Reform Reported Incorrectly: Reports are coming in via email,
phone, and forum postings about the incorrect information being repeated
by media outlets regarding the changes to Ohio's CHL laws which go into
effect tomorrow, September 9. The biggest mistake, such as is reported
by NewsNet5.com is:
Concealed weapons permit holders can now keep a gun hidden in a car
as long as it is in a secure holster worn by the permit holder. The
law previously required the gun to be in plain sight.
This is flat out wrong. It has been legal for a CHL holder to carry a
handgun concealed in a motor vehicle for some time now, and the
implication that it is just now lawful to conceal a firearm is incorrect
and misleading. What has changed is the transportation aspects of the
law for firearms in general...
http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4053/53/
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Ohio Castle Doctrine Takes Effect: Ohioans woke up today with added
legal protections against criminals who break into their homes or cars.
The new law protects residents who use force to stop such intrusions.
The so-called Castle Doctrine, passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov.
Ted Strickland earlier this year, provides legal protection - that is, a
presumption that they acted in self-defense - for individuals who use
force to thwart others who have entered their homes, businesses or
vehicles unlawfully. Under the previous law, residents defending their
homes against intruders had to prove that the perpetrators were close
enough to do them harm and intended to do harm. The new law reverses
those roles, forcing criminals to prove they did not intend to harm
occupants. Another provision covers acts of self-defense in homes or
elsewhere and prevents criminals from seeking civil recourse if injured
while attacking others...
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/sep/09/beware-of-owner-new-law-empowers-residents/
http://www.cleveland.com/realtimenews/index.ssf/2008/09/innocent_before_guilty_new_sel.html
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Congress to Debate DC Infringements: Congress plans to take up a bill
this week that would repeal the District's gun-registration requirements
and make it easier for residents to legally buy semiautomatic weapons,
raising alarm among city officials that the measure would effectively
end local gun control. Chiefs of the D.C. police, the Capitol Police,
the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are expected to
testify against the bill during a House hearing today. Del. Eleanor
Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) plans to introduce a substitute bill that would
simply mandate that D.C.'s gun laws conform to a recent Supreme Court
ruling that struck down the city's 32-year-old ban on handguns. But the
tougher legislation is likely to prevail in the House, according to
congressional sources and supporters and opponents of the bill. It has
won the backing of 48 Democrats, many facing reelection in strongly
pro-gun areas, and is expected to pick up broad support among Republicans...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090802593.html
Brady Bunch Chimes In:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/brady-campaign-urges-opposition-bill/story.aspx?guid={705DAB0F-3EB3-41CF-8949-885180E3DECF}&dist=hppr
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District Judge Upholds Lautenberg Ban: The ban on possession of firearms
by persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence is constitutional.
In one of the first challenges to the validity of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9),
since the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark holding in District of Columbia
v. Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008), U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb
held that Heller does not affect the validity of the prohibition. Judge
Crabb reasoned, "These persons have shown that it is they and not any
outside intruders that pose the greater danger to their families."
..Absent from the court's discussion is any attempt to classify the
prohibition on those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence as
"longstanding." The federal ban on felons and the mentally ill
possessing firearms goes back to 1968. In addition, some state
prohibitions on felons possessing firearms predate the federal law
(Wisconsin's dates to 1981). In contrast, the Lautenberg Amendment,
which created subsec. (g)(9) did not become law until 1996...
http://www.wislawjournal.com/article.cfm/2008/09/08/Domestic-violence-firearms-ban-upheld-Right-to-bear-arms-does-not-protect-domestic-abusers
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Virginia Town May Ban Varmint Shooting: Culpeper Town Council aims to
decide at its meeting tonight whether it should be unlawful to shoot at
garden pests within the corporate limits. The Town Code, as currently
written, allows the discharging of firearms in town for the purpose of
killing "varmints" with a special permit, but Police Chief Scott Barlow
feels the town has become too congested to safely allow that practice to
continue. He recommended to Town Council last month that the provision
for a special permit for the "Discharge of Firearms" in town be
discontinued considering the rapid population and housing growth. Since
Barlow took over last April he has turned down two requests for permits
to do so, he told Town Council in August...
http://www.starexponent.com/cse/news/local/article/should_town_of_culpeper_ban_shooting/20943/
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Sheriff's Department to Return Coloradan's Gun Collection: Local law
enforcement is expected to return the more than 150 guns seized from a
local businessman's home and office to their owner this
morning...Officers and SWAT team members from the Mesa County Sheriff's
Department raided Martin's property after police received a tip he was a
felon in possession of a cache of weapons. Since then, law enforcement's
felon-in-possession case against Martin has passed between local and
federal prosecutors, who both decided earlier this year not to pursue
cases. Martin said he is glad to get his guns back, but he questions how
the sheriff's department proposed giving them back...
http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/09/08/090908_2a_Martin_guns.html
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Canadian Liberal Leader Promises New Gun Ban: With the site of a
gunman's murderous rampage as a backdrop, Liberal Leader St�phane Dion
promised to strengthen gun laws to ensure that military assault weapons
are banned. "A new Liberal government will make our cities, our
communities, and our schools safer by getting military assault weapons
off our streets," Dion said at an event at Dawson College in Montreal...
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/495722
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info