ACLU Can Proceed with ATF Lawsuit: ...The ACLU filed the case on April
18, 2006, on behalf of Karen J. Kilpatrick, who claimed that the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) violated her Free Speech rights.
Kilpatrick was driving her blue van in Pensacola on April 19, 2004, with
the slogans "Remember the Children of Waco" and "Boo ATF" written on
some of the windows when she was pulled over by police for questioning
by the ATF. The ACLU argues in the lawsuit that her First Amendment
Rights to Free Speech and her Fourth Amendment right to be free from
unreasonable search and seizure were violated when officers detained her
for an hour, searched her car without consent, and ordered her to remove
the writing on the side of her van...
http://www.srpressgazette.com/news/aclu_5047___article.html/atf_judge.html
---
NRA Ramps Up Obama Ad Campaign: The National Rifle Assn. is turning up
the volume in its campaign against Barack Obama, airing more ads about
his record on guns. Starting as early as Sunday, new spots will air in
battlegrounds including Ohio, Virginia and Florida. The NRA already has
spots in Colorado, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Some use Obama's line,
uttered at a San Francisco fundraiser, about "bitter" people clinging to
their guns. Obama's attorneys sent letters asking that television
stations cease airing the ads, but they continue to be shown on cable.
The NRA has set up a website attacking Obama and so far has disclosed
spending $2.2 million on its independent expenditure campaign against
the Democratic nominee, Federal Election Commission records show...
http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/admark/la-na-trailnra4-2008oct04,0,785465.story
---
The Bradley Effect: ...The Bradley effect has come to mean this: Voters
lie to pollsters about black candidates, and enough of them lie to
create a huge gap between poll results and election results. The Bradley
effect asserts that when Americans finally get into the voting booth and
see the black candidate's name on the ballot, they flinch...Below
Bradley's name on the California ballot was Proposition 15, requiring
the registering of handguns. On election day, Proposition 15 flushed out
voters in rural precincts, places where politicians didn't campaign and
pollsters didn't poll. And as long as they were in the booth, why not
also vote against that black big-city mayor who was just the kind of
liberal who'd love to take their guns away? (Actually, Proposition 15
would have banned any further sales of handguns to private citizens in
California and Tom Bradley had endorsed it. George Deukmejian, who won
the election, eventually rewarded the pro-RKBA voters who put him in
office by signing the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act, the
nation's first ban on military look-alike firearms.)
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/inbox/story/712409.html
---
Bait and Switch in Massachusetts: Would it be considered a "contract" if
a firearms identification (FID) card, which allows the bearer to own
firearms, was issued that stated the valid period was "indefinite" or
"until revoked"? A 2002 report released by the Commonwealth's House Post
and Oversight Committee reported the state of Massachusetts failed to
notify nearly 750,000 gun owners that their FID cards would prematurely
expire due to the Massachusetts Gun Control Act of 1998. Did the 1998
law turn some of our law-abiding citizens into felons? ...Numerous
law-abiding citizens are sitting in their living room as they read this
story, knowing full well they have probably have Dad's or Uncle Harry's
pistol or rifle or, God help them, a "High Capacity" M1 carbine from
World War II in the closet...
http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2008/10/05/title-125?blog=177
---
VCDL Heads to Norfolk: Once again, members of a guns-rights advocacy
group are coming to City Hall, claiming their rights have been violated
by the police. The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a Northern
Virginia-based group, said 100 or more of its members will descend upon
Tuesday's City Council meeting to vent their displeasure, many with guns
holstered to their hips. The group is upset about a police confrontation
involving a member carrying a weapon openly, which is legal in Virginia...
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/norfolk-police-clashes-fires-gun-rights-group
---
Teen Can't Wear "Gun Shirt" to School: A federal judge sided with a
southcentral Pennsylvania school district in a dispute over whether a
high school student should have been barred from wearing a T-shirt with
images of guns on it. "Students have no constitutional right to promote
violence in our public schools," U.S. District Judge James Knoll Gardner
in Allentown wrote in an opinion issued Tuesday. Donald Miller III, now
a 15-year-old sophomore at Penn Manor High School in Millersville, was
given detention in December after he defied an assistant principal's
order to turn the shirt inside-out. Images of two guns were printed on
the shirt, along with phrases including, "United States Terrorist
Hunting Permit No Bag Limit..." (If images of guns promote violence,
schools had better start checking for students carrying Massachusetts
state quarters.)
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-tshirt1003-cnap,0,620873.story?track=rss
---
South Carolina Sheriff Offers Firearm, Explosives Amnesty: On Saturday,
the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office will collect and destroy weapons,
ammunition, explosives and fireworks - with no questions asked - during
an amnesty day. The goal is to get the dangerous items out of
circulation to prevent injuries and crime. Those who get rid of weapons
or other items Saturday won't face charges for possessing them,
officials said. Serial numbers will be run through a national crime
database and, if they are determined to be stolen, they'll be returned
to their rightful owner. The rest will be destroyed by the State Law
Enforcement Division, which is assisting in the collection... (At least
an effort will be made to return stolen firearms.)
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/630400.html
---
Elsewhere in South Carolina...: Buck Sawyer starts every class with a
prayer thanking God for keeping his family safe. He also prays he'll
know when to draw his gun. The soft-spoken, retired law enforcement
officer teaches a concealed-weapons permit class for legal residents
over the age of 21 who don't reside in a mental institution, have a
criminal history or harbor a notion to overthrow the government. These
days, a lot of law-abiding folks who never had much interest in gun
ownership are rethinking self-defense. Sawyer's class was an eclectic
mix of talents from first-time shooters - well into their AARP years -
to experienced hunters and military veterans, fluent with weapons. Some
of the women looked like they'd be more comfortable at choir practice
than shooting targets. But don't let bifocals and sweet manners fool you...
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20151277&BRD=1164&PAG=461&dept_id=98756&rfi=6
---
New York City's Underground Shooting Range: At street level, you would
never know bullets are flying below. Pedestrians stroll these Chelsea
sidewalks, walk crosstown toward Fifth Avenue or Broadway to have their
nails painted blue at a salon or to purchase proper fashion accessories
at United Colors of Benetton. They don't notice the small plaque on the
outside of the building at 20 W. 20 St. that advertises, "West Side
Rifle and Pistol Range." They don't hear the dramatic bangs of the .45
revolvers or the softer pings of the .22 rifles firing in the basement.
But here, underground, is the only public shooting range left in
Manhattan, populated by marksmen, riflewomen, law enforcement agents,
security guards, actors and casual shooters who insist that firing a gun
is as transcendent and euphoric as yoga - only with a trigger...
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2008/10/04/2008-10-04_gun_lovers_get_their_kicks_at_chelsea_sh.html
---
Wealthy Mexicans Turn to Bullet-Resistant Garments: Exclusive clothing
boutiques line Avenida Presidente Masarik here. A Burberry coat? A
Corneliani suit? A Gucci scarf? Have enough pesos, and they are yours.
But tucked on a leafy side street in the Polanco neighborhood is a shop
unlike the others, one whose bustling business says much about the dire
state of security in this country. At Miguel Caballero, named after its
Colombian owner, all the garments are bulletproof... (Mexico has
draconian restrictions on the private ownership of firearms.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/world/americas/06mexico.html?ref=world
---
Finland Re-Examines Gun Laws, Social Issues: This sparsely populated
nation near the Arctic Circle has long clung to an ethos of rugged
individualism where, unlike in most of Western Europe, the right to bear
arms is deeply ingrained in the culture. Stunned by the second school
massacre in a year, however, Finns are questioning their gun laws and
other social problems such as rampant alcoholism and high suicide
rates... (While many point to a higher homicide rate in the US than many
other industrialized nations, many of those other countries have much
higher suicide rates. Some feel that it is simply a matter of whether
anger is directed outwardly or inwardly.)
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/06/a-time-for-self-reflection/
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
