Mayors Against the RKBA: The bipartisan national group with the apt name
Mayors Against Illegal Guns has won a major victory. For some states,
including Indiana, there's more to lament than celebrate. The coalition
made up of more than 350 municipal chief executives - 10 from Indiana,
none from Central Indiana - managed to persuade Congress to ease access
to once-closely guarded "trace data," the federal records of traffic in
firearms used in crimes. And what did those records show? That 10
states, Indiana included, were the source of 57 percent of the guns used
in crimes outside those states. That those states tended to have the
weakest laws governing the sale and tracking of guns. That those weak
laws correlate with higher rates of in-state murder and shootings of
police officers... (I think we are seeing the shape of the so-called
"common-sense regulation" that Big Brother believes is compatible with
the Second Amendment. Local control has banned handguns in Washington DC
until very recently and severely restricted legal ownership in cities
such as New York and Chicago; Los Angeles, as I recall, has driven
every gun shop within its city limits out of business.)
http://www.indystar.com/article/20081221/OPINION08/812210399/1291/OPINION08
---
Big Brother's Nuanced Stance on the RKBA: ...Is it any wonder, then,
that the nation's gunowners, which are estimated to be somewhere in the
neighborhood of 80 million citizens, are not comforted by Obama's words
on gun rights when he says, 'I think that people can take me at my
word'? So what, then, did he say about guns? He said that he supports an
individual right to own guns but that states and local entities can
place restrictions on those rights. This nuance business is starting to
give me a headache...
http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2008/12/nuanced-stance-on-guns.html
--
The Beat Goes On: Is it forward thinking, or simply jumping the gun?
With some gun buyers fearing a return to 1990s Clinton-era firearm
regulations, several gun shops in Lee and Collier counties are reporting
increased sales in the wake of Barack Obama's election as the 44th
president of the United States. Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, played
a critical role in the passage of the Brady Bill in 1993, legislation
that mandated a five-day waiting period before the purchase of a
handgun. Biden also helped craft the Crime Bill of 1994, which included
a 10-year federal ban on 19 types of military-style assault weapons.
President George W. Bush allowed the ban to expire in 2004, once again
making firearms such as Uzis, AK-47s and TEC-9s legally available for
purchase...
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/dec/21/presidential-election-boon-gun-shop-owners/
Even in California...: It is time for the gun show season to start. Cal
Expo is hosting the first show of the year on January 3-4, 2009. I
always have a great time at these shows. There are vendors selling
reloaded ammo, knives, guns, darts, archery stuff, survival items,
clothing, survival books, home made jerky and fun democrat bashing
bumper stickers. Based on the current political climate, now is a good
time to start hoarding ammo, etc. A gun can be purchased at the show but
there is a waiting period. Curio guns are treated differently. Support
the right to bear arms, come to the show and buy a gun! (Ironically, the
ammunition I recently purchased at the huge gun show in Phoenix was
being sold by Miwall, a firm located in rural California.)
http://www.rosevillept.com/detail/101658.html
---
NRA Lobbyist Retains Clout in Ohio: First, the lobbyist stopped a bill
dealing with dog breeders - after Senate leaders scheduled it for a
vote. A few hours later, John Hohenwarter persuaded senators to stay
after midnight to strip language out of a another bill - an amendment
backed by county sheriffs that would have increased fees for
concealed-carry licenses by $8 - after the bill already had passed the
Senate by an overwhelming margin. Not a bad night's work for a lobbyist
who never set foot inside the Statehouse. When you represent the
National Rifle Association, sometimes all you need is a phone - and
lawmakers willing to take your call even during legislative sessions...
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/12/21/NRA_clout.ART_ART_12-21-08_A1_J2CA297.html?sid=101
---
Helping the Exterminator?: Kenneth Phelps was not going to let an
exterminator into his apartment, no matter what. This act cost him his
life, according to police. Phelps, 40, who lived in an apartments at
3344 McHenry Ave., had been served eviction papers earlier in the week,
police said. When the building's maintenance man came with the
exterminator Wednesday afternoon to spray the building, as he does every
third Wednesday of the month, Phelps would not let them in, police
said... The men began to argue. During the fight, Phelps left his
apartment and pulled out a knife. The maintenance man, whom police did
not identify, then shot Phelps once in the chest with a handgun that he
was carrying legally, according to police...
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20081218/NEWS0107/312170110/
---
Oops, Wrong House: Police tell News Three 52-year-old Ludwig Grudisher
was burglarizing a home off of Reese Road when he was shot. The
homeowner discovered Grudisher outside of the home in his vehicle and
fired in self defense. Police say Grudisher died from being shot in the
face. The homeowner is not being charged in this homicide because it was
on his property...
http://www.wrbl.com/index.php/news/article/columbus-man-killed-while-burlarizing-a-home/51981/
---
Interesting Head Shot: A day after he was hit by a stray bullet in the
back of the head, 74-year-old E.T. Strickland was back at work today -
with the slug still stuck in his skull. "I am the luckiest guy in the
world," Strickland said from his business, Sunrise Financial Corp. in
Palm Beach Gardens. "An inch more to the front and it would have hit me
straight on. As it is, it just glanced around and lodged in the back."
..Strickland, who had a heart attack last month, said his doctors told
him they may not remove the bullet unless it is pressing on any arteries
or causing health problems. He said he plans to see a neurosurgeon for a
second opinion because he would like the bullet removed if at all
possible... (It's well documented that bullets with rounded ogives often
penetrate the scalp and skid around the outside of the skull when they
strike the head off center. This is the first case I've seen where one
appears to have skidded around the inside of a skull.)
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/17/1217rbshoot.html
---
LAPD Officer Under Investigation for Gun-Running: A veteran Los Angeles
police officer who operates a security company in Belize is under
federal investigation for allegedly smuggling handguns into the Central
American nation, according to law enforcement sources and internal LAPD
documents. Officer Johnny Baltazar is accused of purchasing eight
40-caliber Glocks from the LAPD Academy store and secretly shipping
them, along with two other guns and 1,530 rounds of ammunition, to
Belize where he runs a company called Elite Security, according to
documents obtained by The Times... Importing handguns larger than 9
millimeters is banned in Belize under a 2002 law, according to the
police documents...
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-belize22-2008dec22,0,5001327.story
---
Rule Five Reminder: More than a dozen Christmases have passed since
5-year-old Eric Manuel Payne found a .25-caliber handgun under his
great-grandmother's pillow and accidentally shot himself in the head.
Like many other residents in her Ybor City neighborhood, Lillie Mae
Stokes-Jackson had been the victim of a crime and had bought the gun to
protect herself. She never dreamed her great-grandson would find it. But
like many little boys, Eric was fascinated by guns... (Rule Five:
Maintain Control of your firearm. The most important thing gun-owning
parents should do with children is to demystify guns for them - let the
children know they can see the guns anytime they want, so long as they
ask first and follow the safety rules when handling them.)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article943771.ece
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
