Surprising Op-Ed from The Washington Times: As a parting shot from the
Bush administration, courtesy of the gun lobby, those who seek the
solitude and beauty of some national parks and wildlife refuges will
face the fact that the visitor standing next to them just may be packing
heat and is ready to use it at the first sign of any unfriendliness,
such as an argument over a camping space... (The Washington Times is, I
believe, the nation's only daily conservative newspaper and has
generally supported the RKBA, including for residents of DC.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/13/guns-in-the-parks/
---
Open-Carry Soccer Mom Divides Community: Before heading out the door to
go to Wal-Mart, Meleanie Hain fussed over her children, grabbed her coat
and keys, then ran upstairs to get one more item: her loaded Glock 26,
which she strapped to her hip. She never leaves home without it. Hain,
30, has caused a stir in this rural Pennsylvania Dutch community 25
miles east of Harrisburg for packing a gun everywhere she goes,
including to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer games this fall...
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081212_Gun-toting_woman_divides_community.html?submit=Vote&oid=1&mr=1&36048719=Y&cid=8500281&pid=36048719
---
Here's a Switch: ...Pepper spray is a deterrent and should be carried in
a readily accessible pocket in your jacket. Pepper spray in your purse
is useless if the thug grabs your purse. However, the best deterrent to
crime is to arm yourself not with pepper spray, but with a concealed
carry permit and a handgun you are comfortable carrying and using and an
extra clip. Nothing says "I will not be a victim" to a thug like his or
her being on the wrong side of a loaded weapon. This, however, is an
option NOT to be taken lightly. The National Rifle Association and Tom
Gresham's Gun Talk are the authorities on gun laws and obtaining
training for your individual state. Do not remove your weapon from its
holster or your handbag unless you plan to use it. I have a standard
rule - I do not fire warning shots, if I have to pull my gun to protect
myself and my family, the criminal will be stopped, simply put...
http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.2000/pub_detail.asp
---
A Call to Washington Gun Owners: Washington State gun owners should send
a clear message to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels next Monday, Dec. 15 that
his illegal plan to ignore state law by banning legally-carried handguns
from public property will not be tolerated, the Citizens Committee for
the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. CCRKBA Chairman Alan
Gottlieb encourages all gun owners in the Seattle/King County area to
attend a Monday evening hearing on the mayor's scheme to ban handguns
from all city property by executive order. The meeting will be held in
the Bertha Knight Landes room at Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue,
with sign-in beginning at 5:30 p.m...
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/WA-Gun-Owners-Lawmakers-Should/story.aspx?guid={759C19DE-636C-4635-91E3-8917F7DC1457}
---
Oops, Wrong House, Alabama Version: A Colbert County homeowner shot two
men who reportedly were trying to break into his house early Wednesday,
leaving both hospitalized recovering from multiple gunshot wounds,
authorities said. Three Florence men face charges over the break-in bid,
Colbert County Sheriff Ronnie May said... Investigators said the
homeowner shot Peake and Elkins multiple times with a 9 mm pistol after
they kicked in the back door of the residence, which is just past East
Colbert Baptist Church. The sheriff said neither Peake nor Elkins were
armed...
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081204/ARTICLES/812040335
---
Oops, Wrong House, Ohio Version: A man thwarted a home robbery on
Thursday morning when he fired gunshots at two armed men who had forced
their way into his home. Three adults and three children were inside the
home on Azelda Avenue when the men barged in at about 2:30 a.m., 10TV's
Tino Ramos reported. Josh Fields said he was awakened when one of the
men put a gun to his head... Cassey Fields was also sleeping when the
men broke down the home's front door, stormed inside and pointed a gun
at her. Moments later, she said she heard gunshots... he gunshots were
fired by her father. After hearing the men break into the home, Ken
Fields grabbed his own gun and confronted the two men. "The first one
who was at the door turned around to go out and I fired a shot at him,"
said Ken Fields. After being shot at, both men fled from the home.
Police arrived a short time later but did not find the men, Ramos
reported...
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/12/11/story_breakin_shooting.html?sid=102
---
Oops, Wrong Variety Store: When John Silva opened his St. Petersburg
variety store about 9 a.m. Sunday, he brought Gertrude with him.
Gertrude, he says, was his grandfather's .22 caliber Sentinel Arms
revolver. Silva's other gun, Betsy - a .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol
- was taken by St. Petersburg Police Saturday as evidence. Two men came
in to John's Variety, 208 4th St. N., at about 8 p.m. Saturday, says
Silva. Their faces were covered with something resembling a ninja mask,
he says. They pointed what looked like a .45 caliber handgun at him...
"I let three rounds go," he says. "Unfortunately, I missed them... "I
was taught how to use a gun in the Merchant Marines," he says. "Just how
to use and shoot a gun, what to do if we get pirates on board. Nothing
like what I had to deal with last night, close, face-to-face contact. I
don't consider myself tough. But I can handle myself. I used to be a
bouncer." ... (Sorry folks but most of the time, if you need a gun, it
will likely be close, face-to-face contact, not a comfortable seven
yards from a stationary target.)
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/07/071552/st-pete-storeowner-chases-shoots-armed-robbers/
---
Oops, Wrong Liquor Store: Worcester police say a liquor store clerk
fatally shot a man who was trying to rob the store. Sgt. Kerry
Hazelhurst said the masked man was shot multiple times as he and an
accomplice tried to hold up Big Bob's Liquors about 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Forty-year-old Evan Louis Rivera was taken to a hospital where he later
was pronounced dead. The other suspect, who police have not identified,
fled on foot and has not been found. Authorities did not release the
clerk's name. Police said Rivera carried a .375-caliber handgun into the
store. He had a criminal background, including a 15-year sentence for
two counts of armed robbery in Florida. The worker and another store
employee have not been charged with any crime. Both employees were
licensed to possess and carry guns.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/11/mass_liquor_store_clerk_fatally_shoots_robber/
Related Articles:
Fellow package store workers yesterday stood behind a Worcester liquor
clerk who fatally shot an allegedly armed would-be robber in what
appeared to be a bold act of self-defense. "He had to protect himself.
He didn't know what they were going to do," said 29-year-old Jesse
Nowosacki of Auburn Package Store, referring to a clerk at a Worcester
liquor store who shot and killed a masked man during an attempted holdup
Wednesday night...
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2008_12_12_Robber_shot_dead_in_liquor_store_holdup:_Clerk_cheered_for_holding_own_in_heist/srvc=news&position=also
..John Rosenthal, co-founder of Stop Handgun Violence and a rifle
owner, said he supports responsible gun ownership and the use of
firearms in self-defense. "It's a good thing the store clerk was
licensed and trained and prevented this heinous crime," he said. "If it
was all legal, power to the guy." ...
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1138553
---
The Mumbai Massacre - It Could Happen Here: The firearms massacres that
have periodically caused shock and horror around the world have all been
utterly dwarfed by the Bombay shootings, in which a handful of gunmen
left some five hundred people killed or wounded. Commentators have been
swift to insist that we must all "stand firm" against such outrage; but
behind the rhetoric, the pundits have been visibly uncertain how an
assault like that in India can be prevented or resisted. The Bombay
massacre exposed the myth of a number of our security assumptions...
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6324
---
Arming India Against Terrorism: For three bloody days, just 10
determined killers held a city of 18 million hostage. The sheer ignominy
of this fact has jolted Mumbaikars -- and Indians -- out of their fabled
chalta hai (anything goes) attitude, and into a burst of citizen
activism. Even Mumbai's business community has shed its habitual
political timidity and filed an extraordinary public-interest lawsuit
demanding that the government fulfill its constitutional obligation to
protect its citizens. But Indians shouldn't just stop there. They should
also demand reform of the country's draconian gun laws - a holdover from
British times - that prevent them from defending themselves. That would
surely deliver far quicker results than waiting for India's slow-moving
political classes to plug the vast lacunae in the country's security
apparatus...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877201598989093.html
Related Commentary:
http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/2008/12/11/time-to-relax-indias-gun-control-laws-to-fight-militants/
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1071186
---
NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the week are posted on the NRA-ILA website.
http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
