*Chicago Lawsuit May Decide Incorporation of Second Amendment: *As a
lawyer for the city of Chicago, Benna R. Solomon counts on a trio of
19th century U.S. Supreme Court rulings to beat back challenges to the
city's handgun ban. "In the short run, we don't have to do much because
the authority already is with us through Supreme Court precedent," says
Solomon, an appellate specialist who expects one day to argue Chicago's
case before the justices. But those old cases may amount to little more
than a frayed thread stretched between the city and gun-rights advocates
who want to abolish the ban...
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/bringing_lawyers_guns_and_money/
---
*
Same Tune, Updated Lyrics: *..."Senator John Kerry has consistently
supported sensible gun laws throughout his career in public service, and
we're proud to urge his re-election to the Senate," said Paul Helmke,
President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "As a
prosecutor and as a legislator he has been a leader, working with law
enforcement officials on efforts to reduce gun violence. As a hunter and
a war hero, Senator Kerry knows that sportsmen do not need
military-style assault weapons, and that measures to keep guns away from
criminals, terrorists and children are just common sense." (I take the
shift away from "keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous
people" to be an indicator of the Brady Bunch's confidence in a new
"assault weapon" ban under a Democratic administration.)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/brady-campaign-endorses-senator-john/story.aspx?guid={EBCEE2E0-C0A5-443B-9662-99F0B740ED56}&dist=hppr
---
*
Alaskans Weigh RKBA in Election: *With the Nov. 4 election fast
approaching, Alaskans are taking a close look at where the major-party
presidential contenders stand on gun control and Second Amendment
rights...Alaska has some of the most permissible gun laws in the nation,
with no special permit required to purchase a firearm or carry a
concealed weapon...The NRA has endorsed Republican presidential
candidate John McCain, despite differences with the candidate about
campaign finance reform and mandatory background checks at gun shows.
McCain is not an NRA member...The NRA has accused Obama of waffling on
gun-rights issues and challenged his statements that he supports the
right of individuals to bear arms...
http://newsminer.com/news/2008/oct/15/gun-rights-election-issue-number-alaskans/
---
*
Washington AG Rules Against Local Infringements: T*he Bellevue-based
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is hailing an
opinion issued this week by Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna that
says cities cannot enact local laws to prohibit the possession of
firearms on city property or in city-owned facilities, effectively
nixing a plan by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to do just that by executive
fiat. The opinion was written in response to an inquiry from several
state lawmakers. It was signed by Deputy Solicitor General William B.
Collins.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ccrkba-hails-washington-ag-opinion/story.aspx?guid={17D2089E-22B8-4E5E-BEC2-90C97B252011}&dist=hpp
---
*Illinois Voters Discuss CCW Referendum: *Hundreds of residents gathered
at the Harrisburg Lions Club on Tuesday night to rally behind a
referendum encouraging concealed weapons. The referendum, appearing on
the Nov. 4 general election ballot, will not actually change any laws
but could play a role in whether legislators bring the subject of
carrying concealed weapons in Illinois to a vote in Springfield.
Fourteen counties will vote on the issue, including Saline, Jefferson,
Union and Franklin counties. Speakers at the event included State Rep.
Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, and Valinda Rowe, representative for
www.illinoiscarry.com <
http://www.illinoiscarry.com>...
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/10/15/front_page/26280290.txt
---
*
VCDL Member to Face Trespass Charge: *The city will prosecute a
trespassing charge against Hampton resident Dan Moore after he was
ordered to leave Waterside last week for wearing a gun on his hip, and
according to police, refused to leave. Although the retail complex has
received millions of taxpayer dollars, it is a private institution that
has the right to ban guns, City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said. In
Virginia, it is legal to carry a handgun in public."Waterside is a
commercial venture, with restaurants and shops," Pishko said. "This is
not the kind of activity you would expect to find in a public building..."
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/norfolk-city-attorney-says-gun-rights-advocate-will-be-prosecuted-waterside-case
---
*
Pennsylvania Open-Carry Advocate Received Support: *Gun-rights activists
who traveled to Lebanon from as far away as Pittsburgh in support of
Second-Amendment poster girl Meleanie Hain said it was worth the trip. A
group of two dozen supporters applauded and cheered when Lebanon County
President Judge Robert J. Eby announced his decision yesterday to
restore Meleanie Hain's concealed-weapons permit during a hearing at the
Lebanon municipal building. "I wasn't surprised," 37-year-old Greg Rotz
of Chambersburg said of Eby's ruling. Rotz organized the gathering of
advocates who support the open carrying of handguns as a peaceful show
of support for Hain...
http://www.ldnews.com/ci_10726125
*---
Many US Airports Allow Firearms: *...Under federal law, it is illegal
everywhere to try to carry a gun through a security checkpoint. The rest
of the terminal, however, has long been the domain of state and local
authorities. Jon Allen, a spokesman for the federal Transportation
Security Administration, said the TSA has not taken a position on guns
in airports and has no authority under federal law to ban them. The
issue has led to clash in Georgia between a new state law that allows
guns on public transportation and the Atlanta airport's ban on loaded
weapons. Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against
the city by a gun rights group. At an earlier hearing, he warned that
guns at the world's busiest airport could pose a "serious threat to
public safety and welfare." The gun group has appealed...
http://townhall.com/news/us/2008/10/15/in_many_us_airports,_guns_are_ok_outside_security?page=full
---
*
Oops, Wrong House: *Two men were shot to death early this morning after
they reportedly forced their way in to a University Of Arizona student's
Midtown home...The 23-year-old student was in the small backyard guest
house where he lived several blocks north of the university about 12:30
a.m. when two men in their 20s came to the door and forced their way in,
Pacheco said. The student armed himself with a handgun and shot them
both, then called police. The men were dead when police arrived... (Why
is it that the student does not enjoy the same right to defend himself
when he is on campus?)
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/262693.php
---
*
Did Robber Still Pose a Threat?: *A suburban grocery store clerk fired
three shots at an armed robbery suspect fleeing on a bicycle, killing
the man and raising difficult questions about the line between
self-defense and vigilantism. Authorities in Waukegan
<
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/us/illinois/lake-county-%28illinois%29/waukegan-PLGEO1001005011420000.topic>
on Tuesday had not decided whether to pursue charges, but others had
already made up their minds. "Any time you point a gun at me and if I've
got a gun and I've got the opportunity, I'm going to use it on you,"
Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde
<
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/politics/richard-hyde-PEPLT005150.topic>
said. "With society the way it is now and with the number of armed
robberies you have, you've got to fight back." Experts said the
difference between self-defense and a crime likely will come down to
whether the suspect was posing a threat when the clerk decided to fire...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-waukegan-shooting-15-oct15,0,3213846.story
---
*
Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun: *There is nothing like having your
finger on the trigger of a gun to reveal who you really are. Life or
death in one twitch - ultimate decision, with the ultimate price for
carelessness or bad choices. It is a kind of acid test, an initiation,
to know that there is lethal force in your hand and all the complexities
and ambiguities of moral choice have fined down to a single action: fire
or not? In truth, we are called upon to make life-or-death choices more
often than we generally realize. Every political choice ultimately
reduces to a choice about when and how to use lethal force, because the
threat of lethal force is what makes politics and law more than a game
out of which anyone could opt at any time...
http://www.catb.org/~esr/guns/gun-ethics.html
---
*Interesting Article from New Jersey: *...Born and raised in Woodbridge,
the 46-year-old Babecki moved to Coosa County, Ala., in December 2007
and was married on May 3. Shortly after midnight on May 29, he heard the
unmistakable noise of someone breaking into his mobile home. He reached
for his loaded handgun next to his bed, and shouted to his wife Heather
to grab her rifle. The intruder entered their bedroom, and fired a shot
into the floor. Babecki figures the bad guy wanted to intimidate them,
not knowing they were armed. While Babecki fumbled with the fanny pack
that contained his gun, his wife pointed her rifle at the intruder.
According to Babecki, his wife would have fired the rifle, except that
she feared she might kill her pet birds in their cage right outside the
bedroom...
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20081014/OPINION06/810140342/1069/newsfront
---
*SAF Founder Plugs Book: *Newly-reported data showing a rise in
justifiable homicides reflects a renewed philosophy of self-reliance
that was examined in the book /America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense
in a Violent Age,/ co-authored by Second Amendment Foundation founder
Alan Gottlieb late last year.
Gottlieb and co-author Dave Workman, senior editor of /Gun Week/, took a
hard look at self-defense in their book, which has stayed at or near the
top of Amazon.com's "Gun Control" category for the past 11 months. The
2007 data, released by the FBI, shows 254 self-defense justifiable
homicides by private citizens, the most reported for a single year since
1997. There were also 391 killings by police last year, the FBI
reported.... (The book is well worth reading.)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/saf-founder-says-his-books/story.aspx?guid={73347B11-53C2-41FD-A652-0B85D84CE6C7}&dist=hppr
---
*Disarmament Begins for Baghdad Residents: *In the past, the soldiers
with 1st Battalion, 68th Infantry would have had no problem finding an
AK-47 assault rifle in Omar Abdul Satar's home. Iraqis have a long
history of owning guns, and few homes in the country are without one.
But the government is trying to change that. It recently decided to
prohibit guns in the capital. That was bad news for Satar. When the U.S.
soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts found his AK, they confiscated it
and took it back to their base in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district. Iraqi
soldiers began collecting private guns around the capital in September
after the Iraqi government instituted the gun ban. More recently,
American soldiers have been searching homes to round up firearms around
the city as well. Only citizens with the proper permit can keep their
weapons. Unlike in the United States, they usually must have a job that
requires a gun to obtain a permit...
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58170
