Will Feinstein Lead the Way?: With its days numbered, the Bush
administration has made an unnecessary and dangerous change to a
25-year-old regulation that bans concealed, loaded firearms in America's
national parks and wildlife refuges... This is an astonishingly reckless
move, made in the absence of any public outcry in favor of changing this
rule. In fact, the public consistently rates our national parks at the
top of federal government programs that work well. There is no reason to
fix a system that Americans overwhelmingly tell us is not broken...
Poaching will increase in our national parks, upsetting the delicate
balance between park visitors and wildlife... If there is any good news,
it is this: President-elect Barack Obama will take office on Jan. 20. I
hope he moves quickly to reverse this monumentally reckless move by his
predecessor. (Does Senator Feinstein really believe that there will be
poaching by hunters equipped with two-inch .38 revolvers?)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/28/ED5D14VH27.DTL
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More Gun Shows, Fewer Murders: ... With a new Congress and a new
president taking office next month, you are bound to hear more calls for
closing the so-called "gun-show loophole," that permits American
citizens in many states to buy guns without ridiculous and
counterproductive waiting periods. There will be an all-out effort to
renew the slow, plodding, incremental, long-term goal of banning and
restricting the sale of as many firearms as possible. It will likely
start with gun shows - one of the easiest targets of the gun-grabbers.
They will cite all kinds of bogus statistics to support their claims
that gun shows spell nothing but death and destruction. What they won't
cite, however, is a groundbreaking study of the impact of gun shows on
homicides. They can't - because it shows just the opposite of what they
claim to be true...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84749
---
On-Duty Police Deaths Decline: Fewer police officers died in the line of
duty in 2008 compared to last year, reflecting better training and
tactics, two law enforcement support groups reported Sunday. The
findings reversed the trend for 2007 when there was a spike in police
deaths, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
and another group, Concerns of Police Survivors. The groups reported
fatalities through Sunday... Gunfire deaths dropped to 41 officers this
year, compared to 68 in 2007. The 2008 number represented the lowest
total since 1956 - when there were 35 - and was far below the peak of
156 officers killed by gunfire in 1973... (Hmm, these figures don't seem
to correlate with the availability, for legal purchase, of
military-look-alike firearms.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/29/line-of-duty-police-officer-deaths-down/
---
Murders Among Black Teens Rise: The murder rate among black teenagers
has climbed since 2000 even as murders by young whites have scarcely
grown or declined in some places, according to a new report... The main
racial difference involves juveniles ages 14 to 17. In 2000, 539 white
and 851 black juveniles committed murder, according to an analysis of
federal data by the authors. In 2007, the number for whites, 547, had
barely changed, while that for blacks was 1,142, up 34 percent. The
increase coincided with a rise in the number of murders involving guns,
Dr. Fox said. The number of young blacks who were victims of murder also
rose in this period... (Firearm possession by minors under the age of 18
is already tightly restricted by federal law as well as the laws of most
states.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/us/29homicide.html?ref=us
---
Tried and Untrue: Need more proof that the gun-control advocates are
completely out of ideas? Just look at the papers in New Jersey, South
Carolina, Missouri and other states. Gun "buybacks" are making a
comeback, even though they've been proven to be ineffective at reducing
gun violence. Researcher David Kopel recently highlighted the problems
with these programs in a recent issue of America's 1st Freedom. The guns
that are turned in don't come from criminals, many of them are
inoperable, and studies have shown that crime rates don't drop in areas
that conduct "buyback" programs...
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=479
Meanwhile, In Colorado...: A gun "give-back" in Denver ended Saturday
after it started as a plan to buy guns from people. Organizers couldn't
come up with the $50 per gun they had hoped to trade people for weapons.
The event was held at 9th and Holly and 15 guns were turned in, but more
were expected if there had been money. Several people with handguns and
even a shotgun came expecting to collect cash, but they apparently did
not hear that there would be no money, so they left with their guns...
http://cbs4denver.com/local/guns.denver.buy.2.896044.html
---
The Beat Goes On: ... Concern that new gun-control measures will follow
Obama's election has fueled skyrocketing increases in gun sales and
applications for permits to carry concealed weapons, both in Central
Virginia and across the nation. The Virginia State Police also has seen
a surge in the number of background checks for potential gun owners,
especially since the November election. And local gun dealers report a
waiting list for sales of assault rifles and many handgun models. The
president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Phillip Van Cleave,
said gun owners point to Obama's voting record as a state senator in
Illinois and as a U.S. Senator. He said Illinois has some of the
nation's most-restrictive gun laws, and is just one of two states
(Wisconsin is the other) that does not allow weapons to be carried
concealed...
http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/lynchburg/article/gun_sales_skyrocket_as_obamas_inauguration_nears/23736/
A good turnout and brisk sales are marking Kenny Woods' Gun & Knife Show
this weekend at the Kentucky Exposition Center - an interest that Woods
attributes to the nation's shifting political landscape. Woods and other
firearms and ammunition dealers say sales have been upbeat as buyers
worry that President-elect Barack Obama's administration will push for
changes in gun laws or possibly new taxes. "If you want people to want
something, all they have to do is think that they can't have it," said
Woods, who lives in Hazard...
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081228/NEWS01/812280466/1008
Redding [CA] gun stores haven't noticed the economic downturn felt by
most of America this holiday season. Just the opposite. Owners of three
of the area's largest gun dealerships say their sales have doubled or
even tripled as hundreds of worried gun-rights advocates rush to buy
firearms before President-elect Barack Obama and a Democrat-controlled
House and Senate take power after January. "After the election, there
definitely was motivation," said Fred Drollinger, 53, of Shingletown,
who picked up a new Kimber .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol earlier
this month from Jones' Fort in Redding. "The Democrats have a very
different view of guns" than he does...
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/dec/27/local-gun-sales-flourishing/
The Surry County [NC] Sheriff's Office has been swamped with
applications for concealed carry and gun purchase permits since the
election in November. To date, the sheriff's office has receive a total
of 1,286 purchase permits in 2008. Last year, the office processed 1,131
for the entire year. Last December, it received 21 requests for the
entire month. This month, the office has already received 39 with three
days left in the month.
Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson said the sheriff's office has
received more requests for gun permits for the whole year from about
five to six weeks ago. He said both concealed carry and purchase permits
have exceeded last year's requests...
http://www.mtairynews.com/articles/2008/12/29/news/local_news/local02.txt
---
Gun-Toting Soccer Mom Interviewed: Some people have called Meleanie Hain
a courageous defender of the Second Amendment. Others have referred to
her in online forums as an "idiot" for taking her gun to her 5-year-old
daughter's soccer game in Lebanon in September. Hain said she is "just a
mom who happens to carry a gun ... everywhere." No matter your
viewpoint, there is no doubt Hain aroused a storm of controversy -
making headlines locally and nationally. Whenever The Patriot-News
published a story about Hain on PennLive.com, dozens, sometimes
hundreds, of readers weighed in. Hain agreed to an interview by e-mail...
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/12/jim_zengerle_the_lebanon_daily.html
---
Oops, Wrong House, Alabama Version: A burglary suspect got an unpleasant
surprise while attempting to rob the gun cabinet of a Dothan resident,
according to police. Dothan Police Lt. Anthony Westberry said a
homeowner is reported to have opened fire on a suspect he found trying
to rob his gun cabinet. Westberry said the attempted burglary happened
at about 7:48 p.m. The homeowner entered his house on Decatur Street and
found the suspect trying to take weapons from a gun cabinet. Westberry
said initial police reports indicate the homeowner shot at the burglar
and chased him from the residence... (It's hard to say what is meant by
"gun cabinet" but the traditional American gun cabinet is more oriented
toward display than security and would fail to meet Rule Five
requirements to maintain control of your firearm.)
http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/homeowner_opens_fire_on_burglar/52464/
---
Oops, Wrong House, Oklahoma Version: A Tulsa homeowner shot and killed a
teenager who was breaking into his house early Tuesday, police said.
Shortly before 3 a.m., three people broke into a home in the 1300 block
of North Irvington Avenue, Tulsa Police Cpl. Mark Shelton said. Many of
the 15 to 20 occupants were awake, including the home- owner, who heard
the break-in and got his gun. Two of the suspected burglars, including
one who was armed, were moving through the house when they encountered
the homeowner, Shelton said. Gunfire was exchanged. The homeowner shot
one of the intruders twice in the chest, and the homeowner's wife was
shot in the abdomen...
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20081224_11_A1_ATulsa289074
---
Oops, Wrong House, Texas Version: Police investigate a deadly shooting
that could fall under the State's so-called "Castle Law". Police are not
saying much right now because they are still investigating the invasion,
but we do know that the suspected burglar was shot and killed. It
happened at a home about an hour northeast of Austin in Cameron. Milam
County Sheriff's deputies got a call around two this morning about the
shooting of a home intruder. Deputies found suspected burglar,
34-year-old Eddie Sexton III, dead. No charges are filed yet, but the
case could be the latest in a string of Castle Law defenses... (Texas
has always been relatively liberal with the use of deadly force against
burglars - it's intriguing that this case would seem to require a
defense under the recent castle-doctrine statute.)
http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/122808kvue-castle_-mw.16e2aea5.html
http://www.kauz.com/news/local/36809294.html
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
