Mexico Urges Use to Reinstitute "AWB": A senior U.S. law enforcement
official said Friday the Bush administration never assessed whether a
decade-long assault weapon ban had reduced the flow of high-powered guns
into the hands of Mexican drug gangs. "I don't think we've ever really
tracked it," said William McMahon, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives... Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the
ban's expiration had no bearing on Mexico's violence. "I follow arms
trafficking across the world, and I've never known illegal arms
traffickers who cared very much about the law," Rice said. "And so I
simply don't accept the notion that the lifting of the ban somehow has
led arms traffickers to increase their activity." But Mexican Foreign
Secretary Patricia Espinosa said authorities in her country would favor
restoration of the ban... (Look how well Mexico's draconian gun laws
have worked.)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6174401.html
---
Will Plax Get the Max?: ... Right now the court of public opinion has
judged Plaxico guilty of committing an act of stupidity - he was
officially sentenced by Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report, who made
him the word of the day - but being convicted in criminal court will
require more than just "truthiness." ...My guess is that Burress will
have a change of uniform next season, but it won't be a prison uniform.
And here's why: New York State Law has four degrees of firearms
possession--one is a misdemeanor, three of them are felonies, but only
the top two carry mandatory sentencing - and it will be very hard for
the DA's office to get a conviction for possession in the first or
second degree. In a nutshell, it comes down to intent...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-23/will-plax-get-the-max/
---
Pennsylvania Councilman Still Trying for Stolen-Gun Law: Easton
Councilman Jeff Warren really, really thinks Easton needs a new gun law.
Specifically, he thinks the city should require all gun owners to report
their lost or stolen weapons quickly - which he believes would help keep
everyone here safer and would make it easier to go after criminals who
shouldn't have guns in the first place. The problem is that Warren's
zeal keeps running up against his fellow council members, plus the fact
that Pennsylvania law just might prohibit cities from passing laws like
that...
http://blogs.mcall.com/easton/2008/12/an-easton-gun-l.html
---
Philadelphia Permit Holders Hit with Retroactive Fee Increase: ...In
2005, when the legislature amended the law governing licenses to carry
firearms, the fee for a five-year license was increased from $19 to $25.
The increase, channeled into accounts for license "modernization" and
"validation," is supposed to make it possible for even small
municipalities to get state grants to buy cameras for making gun-permit
photo IDs. But Philadelphia has not been collecting the $6 increase, a
fact brought home to permit-holders with a bracing letter this month
from Lt. Lisa King, commander of the Police Department gun permits unit.
"This additional $6 fee was supposed to be collected from all
gun-license applicants effective May 1, 2006, [and] is required . . .
regardless of whether your application was approved or denied," King
wrote. "We apologize for any inconvenience, but, regrettably, if payment
is not received by [Jan. 31, 2009], this debt will be placed in
collections and could affect your credit. . . . Failure to pay will also
result in the immediate revocation of your current firearms license." ...
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20081223_State_wants_retroactive_gun_fees_from_Phila_.html
---
Oops, Wrong House, South Carolina Version 1: ... Sheriff's deputies
responded Sunday afternoon to a burglary call at 163 Murphy Drive in
Walhalla and learned that Murphy had shot a burglar in the buttocks.
Kirby Alan Ridley was later brought into custody on burglary charges at
a Ranger Road home in Walhalla and sent to Oconee Medical Center for
treatment of his wound. The report summary states Murphy told officers
he was in the bathroom when he heard a noise near his kitchen. He then
walked out of the bathroom, retrieved his .22 pistol from his closet,
and discovered a man standing in front of his fireplace. After telling
the burglar to stop, the subject allegedly reached into his pocket as if
to get a gun or weapon and began walking back towards the kitchen, at
which point Murphy shot him... (All's well that ends well but a .22
pistol is not the best choice for defense of self and home.)
http://www.upstatetoday.com/news/2008/dec/23/burglar-shot-after-breaking-walhalla-home/
---
Oops, Wrong House, South Carolina Version 2: ...County police say,
around 9 last night, two suspects broke into a house on Burcale Road in
Myrtle Beach. Police are investigating the shooting death that occurred
at Courtyard 1 Apartments on Burcale Road, that's near the Clay Pond
village community. They say, the owner was home at the time of the
robbery and shot one suspect while the other took off. Police also tell
News 13, that neighbors living next to the burglary victim's apartment
heard gun shots and a round of gunfire went through their apartment
wall. When police arrived at the house they say, the owner was just
putting down his gun when they saw one of the suspects lying on the
ground dead with two gun shot wounds...
http://www.scnow.com/scp/news/local/grand_strand/article/suspect_shot_to_death_during_apparent_home_burglary_in_myrtle_beach/23012/
---
Oops, Wrong House, South Africa Version: A burglar was shot and killed
while looting a house in Sunward Park in Boksburg yesterday morning,
police said. Captain Mack Mngomezulu said a 53-year-old homeowner shot
the man after hearing people talking inside his house at 3.30am. "The
man had been sleeping when he heared the voices. While searching the
house, he was confronted by about five unknown people who tried to
attack him ... he then shot one of them," he said. With their accomplice
shot, the remaining four fled the scene on foot, taking with them a
handbag with a cellphone, R3000 in cash, bank cards, an ID book and
driver's licence...
http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4771869
---
Oops, Wrong Store: A grocery store employee who fatally shot a man
trying to rob his Westside store Sunday night will not face criminal
charges, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi determined today. Miguel
Mondragon was working at El Michoacana in the 6200 block of West 34th
Street on Sunday when Christopher Barreto entered the store with a
shotgun and herded customers into one part of the store. When Barreto
pointed a gun at a woman and her child, Mondragon shot him, using a gun
belonging to the store's owner...
http://www.indystar.com/article/20081223/NEWS02/812230346
---
Rule Five Reminder: The gun most likely used by the Dale City teenager
charged in the killings of a mother and son in his neighborhood was a
family heirloom tucked away in the victims' house that had probably not
been fired in a quarter-century, a family member said. "These were
weapons we had used for target practice when I was a child," said Rick
Smith, the husband of Jean C. Smith and father of James M. Smith, 19.
They were not loaded," Smith said. "I believe there was ammunition that
may have been there. . . . Those weapons had not been fired in at least
25 years." ... (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/23/AR2008122302797.html
---
A Look at Austrian, German Gun Laws: For generations, anti-gun fanatics
have been claiming that Europe has highly restrictive gun control and
low murder rates. Well, the latter is true, but European gun laws are
not necessarily stricter than ours (or even as restrictive). They are
just different. German and Austrian murder rates are generally the
lowest in Europe - about 50 percent lower than those of gun-banning
England. So let's compare German and Austrian gun laws to ours...
http://www.handgunsmag.com/firearms/HG_continentaldivide_200901/
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
