My Oops Again: A list member has corrected me on my statement that HK
uses octagonal rifling in its firearms. He states that his HK pistols
have hexagonal rifling. It's been over a decade since I owned an HK
pistol and it was a model that has been out of production for a while. I
still seem to recall octagonal rifling but will defer to any HK
enthusiasts who wish to clarify if HK used to use octagonal rifling.
---
Republicans and the RKBA: Most members of the Republican Party - elected
and electors alike - enjoy puffing out their chests and pretending there
is no bigger champion of the Second Amendment than the folks with the
"R" next to their names. But for all the red state (and red statesman)
bluster, let's add a little perspective. In 1967, then governor Ronald
Reagan - the shining republican on the GOP hill - signed the "Mulford
Act" into law. Mulford "prohibited the carrying of firearms on one's
person or in a vehicle, in any public place or on any public street."
Reagan's rationale was a disarming of the militant Black Panther group,
but the law affected every legal gun owner...
http://www.examiner.com/x-662-Strange-News-Examiner~y2008m10d8-Republicans-and-gun-laws
---
Look Who's Talking: The following is a statement by Ray Schoenke,
President, American Hunters and Shooters: Today, the National Rifle
Association demonstrated once again that it is a partisan political
entity, not an organization committed to the best interests of gun
owners. In 2001, the NRA's magazine, America's First Freedom, said that
John McCain was "one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the
Second Amendment." That came after McCain introduced federal legislation
on gun show background checks, which came after McCain's appearances in
television ads supporting referenda in Colorado and Oregon to require
backgrounds checks at gun shows. The NRA vehemently opposed those
measures, which were passed by voters. The ads can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1c4Ko2KvEw and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o545OWyD-k...
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/world-class-hypocrites-nra-endorses/story.aspx?guid={4E3317C3-6ED2-4DF2-A69D-D42991A2E31F}&dist=hppr
---
And Whom Does Schoenke Support?: ...Ray Schoenke, President of the
American Hunters and Shooters Association, spoke to a group of voters at
the Democratic Headquarters. Schoenke is the president of a gun rights
organization that provides an alternative to the National Rifle
Association. Schoenke is a life long hunter; past professional football
player, playing for the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys and a
political activists. As a hunter and shooter, Democrats have come to
Schoenke in the past requesting his assistance in past elections during
the final hours of the campaigns. In 2005, Schoenke decided it was time
to look straight at the issue and start doing something about it early.
http://www.timesjournal.com/articles/2008/10/09/news/doc48ed1da40a25c459228204.txt
---
"Shill" Defined: A spokesman for Barack Obama's campaign says the
senator "will respect the tradition of gun ownership in this country."
Tommy Vietor (VEET'-ur) is responding to a planned National Rifle
Association newspaper ad that revives an old mailing by Hillary Rodham
Clinton accusing Obama of waffling on gun issues. Clinton's campaign
sent the mailing when the New York senator was challenging Obama for the
Democratic presidential nomination. Vietor says "Sen. Obama firmly
believes that the Second amendment protects the individual right to bear
arms." He says that's why Obama has received the endorsement of the
American Hunters and Shooters Association. The association calls itself
a "mainstream group of hunters" and says it supports safe and
responsible gun ownership...
http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9149963
---
Obama, the RKBA and the Supreme Court: Some of the issues relating to
Federal gun control have, in the light of the Supreme Court in District
of Columbia v Heller, decided last summer, have been constitutional
decided in a manner not in agreement with Senator Obama. In adopting
one of two interpretations of the Second Amendment, gun laws to restrict
weapons in urban areas have been taken from the equation...In short
Senator Obama wants reasonable, common sense regulations. And this might
require a 180� shift in the Supreme Court's philosophy...
http://www.examiner.com/x-900-Tampa-Bay-Politics-Examiner~y2008m10d8-Barack-Obama-on-gun-control-regulation
---
SAF Statement on New Orleans Settlement: "While we are delighted that
this case is now settled," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, "it should
never have been necessary. When a disaster strikes, no government entity
or official should arbitrarily decide that citizens must be disarmed and
left defenseless, and that is what happened in New Orleans. These gun
seizures were conducted without legal authority, under color of law and
often at gunpoint, and that must never be allowed to happen again
anywhere on American soil..."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/saf-settles-new-orleans-lawsuit/story.aspx?guid={FF2B3699-FAE7-4765-AD31-BA980BEB542A}&dist=hppr
---
Missouri City Weighs Park-Carry Ban: The Springfield City Council may
find itself in the crosshairs of a contentious issue if it approves a
legislative wish list that seeks to ban concealed weapons from city
parks and sporting fields. Prior to state passage of a concealed carry
law in 2004, guns were prohibited in parks by city ordinance. But when
concealed carry permits were legalized and the list of restricted areas
chosen, parks were left off - overruling the 1971 ordinance. The state
law prohibits guns in schools, government meetings or major sports
stadiums that hold 5,000 fans. But it doesn't ban them in parks...
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20081009/NEWS01/810090383
---
California Sheriff to Revoke CWP's: The Sheriff's Department has begun
the process of revoking hundreds of concealed weapon permits across
Orange County. This week, department officials confirmed that 146
letters have been sent out advising current license holders that their
permits to carry firearms in public - called CCWs - are being revoked.
There are currently 1,024 permit holders. "The Department has determined
that your identified risk does not meet the good cause threshold as
required under the new CCW policy based upon the information you
provided. As a result of this determination, the Department's present
intention is to revoke your CCW license," reads the form letter sent out
this month... (Revocation of this sort is new to me. Even when the City
of Los Angeles decided to revert to its pre-settlement CCW policy, on
Bernard Parks's assumption of the chieftaincy of LAPD, the affected
permits were simply allowed to expire and were not renewed. Under former
Orange County sheriff Michael Carona, who is currently in deep legal
trouble, Orange County had become about as shall-issue as California law
allows.)
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/permits-carona-concealed-2186181-county-department
---
Bad Economy Boosts Gun Sales?: Some Triangle shop owners report a steady
increase in gun sales, which they credit to the struggling national
economy. This year so far, sales at the Personal Defense and Handgun
Safety Center in Raleigh are up about 35 percent, owner Mike Tilley
said. "Probably most of this year we've seen sales and class attendance
increase. In fact, our classes right now are so full that we're
suspending taking any reservations right now until November," Tilley
said. Triangle area shop owners said when the economy's down, the public
perception of crime goes up...(Sales of firearms, ammunition and
reloading components also tend to rise in anticipation of further
infringements of the RKBA.)
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3698622/
---
Convicted Felon Arrested for Negligent Discharge: Mesa police arrested a
man Wednesday afternoon in what appears to be the accidental shooting of
his next door neighbor through a wall of his apartment. Dustin Duane
Johnson faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,
possession of a weapon by a prohibited person, disorderly conduct with a
weapon and dangerous drug possession. The shooting took place about 2
p.m. Wednesday in an apartment complex in the 4100 block of East Main
Street...Johnson, who was on probation for armed robbery and was a
documented gang member, later admitted to having fired the gun while
playing with it, police said. He said he hid the gun in the complex's
laundry room and flushed brass from it down the toilet...
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/127719
---
Oops, Wrong House, Florida Version: A man who broke into an east Orange
County home overnight is in the hospital this morning after the
homeowner shot him in the chest, deputies said. Investigators said the
man, Jeffrey Scott Conway, may have thought the residence was his home.
Orange County Sheriff's Office records show that shortly before 11:30
p.m. Wednesday, deputies arrived at Berky Deguzman's home at 12246
Huntsman Lane. Deguzman told them that he shot Conway because he was
burglarizing the home...Deputies have not filed charges against either
man. (I have to assume some level of mental impairment for a person to
confuse another's home for his and then to break in. With no reference
to Conway's age, I'm more inclined to suspect alcohol or some other drug
than Alzheimer's.)
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/2008/10/homeowner-shoot.html
---
Oops, Wrong House, Illinois Version: An intruder was shot and killed
while breaking into a home in the far southwest suburbs. It happened
around 6 p.m. Wednesday night in Crest Hill on Pioneer Road. A
68-year-old man was in his apartment watching television when the
intruder broke the bedroom window. Police say he picked up a .38
revolver and fatally shot the intruder, identified as 34-year-old
Demtrious Grove. It is unclear whether any charges will be filed against
the resident.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6441752
---
Oops, Wrong House, Wisconsin Version: A boy used a BB gun to shoot one
of two men who were trying to break into his house Thursday night,
Madison police said. The two men went up the front steps of the boy's
home in the 1000 block of Sherman Avenue about 8:20 p.m., then went
around to the side of the house where they started to break in. The boy
shot one of them with a BB gun, possibly hitting him in the shoulder,
and both suspects fled the area on foot... (Unlike the Gun Free School
Zones Act, which lacks any exemption for self-defense, the federal law
that limits firearm possession by juveniles specifically exempts the use
of a firearm for self-defense within the juvenile's home. So far as I
know, a "BB gun" is not treated as a firearm under applicable federal law.)
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/308864
---
There's a Reason God Put Those People on an Island: A gardener who
fenced off his allotment with barbed wire after being targeted by
thieves has been ordered to take it down - in case intruders scratch
themselves. Bill Malcolm erected the 3ft fence after thieves struck
three times in just four months, stealing tools worth around �300 from
his shed and ransacking his vegetable patch. But Bromsgrove district
council has ordered the 61-year-old to remove the waist-high fence on
health and safety grounds... (I didn't realize that it was still legal
to publish measurements in feet in Britain - grocers there have been
fined for failing to post weights and volumes in grams and liters.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1075809/No-barbed-wire--hurt-thieves-allotment-holders-told.html
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
