Democrats Who Opposed "AWB" Renewal: A list member inquired if I knew
which Democrats had supported the RKBA by writing to AG Holder, opposing
his call to renew a ban on military-looking firearms. The 65 signatures
and names appear at the end of the letter.
http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/AWBLettertoHolder309.pdf
---
US Mexican Officials to Discuss Gun Trafficking: U.S. and Mexican
security officials will strategize next month on fighting the arms trade
fueling Mexico's bloody drug war, but a U.S. ban on assault rifles
favored by the traffickers will not be on the agenda. U.S. Attorney
General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano
announced plans this week to meet their Mexican counterparts - Attorney
General Eduardo Medina and Interior Minister Fernando Francisco Gomez
Mont - at an arms trafficking conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico in early
April. Napolitano told reporters on Thursday the officials will discuss
ways of fighting the huge flow of weapons from the United States into
Mexico, where they are used by drug gangs in turf battles that killed
6,000 people last year...
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/US_mexico_gun_meeting/2009/03/20/194164.html
---
Prosecutors to Appeal Dismissal of Arizona Gunrunning Case: Prosecutors
in Arizona scrambled on Thursday to figure out how to appeal a state
judge's decision to dismiss charges against a gun dealer who had been
accused of arming a Mexican drug cartel. "We believe it was an error,
and we are going to do everything we can in the system to correct that
error," the state's attorney general, Terry Goddard, said in an
interview Thursday. "It's not over by any means." The judge's decision
underscores how difficult it is in the United States to convict a gun
dealer of wrongdoing in connection with the illegal flow of weapons to
Mexico...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/us/20guns.html?_r=1&ref=us
NSSF Explains Straw Purchases:
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-the-truth-behind-the-straw-man-gun-purchase-hype
---
It's Not All from Gun Shops: Military weaponry and supplies, everything
from fighter jet parts to meals for combat soldiers, are vanishing from
the U.S. government inventory. A recent government report says some of
that lost equipment could be used against America's military and police
agencies. A weapon stash in Ju�rez and night-vision rifle scopes stolen
from combat teams in Iraq for sale on the black market in El Paso are
part of a wider problem, according to the 2008 Government Accountability
Office report. The report documents the purchase of sensitive military
items on eBay and Craigslist by undercover GAO agents between January
2007 and March 2008. They bought the items "no questions asked,"
according to the report. They also found dealers who regularly bought
and sold the gear. Store owners said that they purchased much of the
equipment from U.S. service members, but that some was obtained from
government liquidators...
http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_11937477
---
HR 45 Update, Poll: It sounds innocuous. Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL),
on January 6, 2009, quietly filed the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing &
Record of Sale Act of 2009 (H.R. 45) in the United States House of
Representatives. While the nation has been distracted by the bailouts,
the stimulus, the AIG bonuses, and Britney Spears' comeback,
Congressman's Rush's legislation has been winding its way through
Congress. Right now it is before the Judiciary Committee. Should the
legislation become law, the second amendment would be fundamentally
damaged. While distracted by pocketbook issues, Americans might want to
pay attention to this... (Cast your vote in the poll.)
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/03/19/democrat-bobby-rush-d-il-wants-to-let-eric-holder-take-your-guns-away/
---
Court Suspends National-Park Carry: Today, a federal district court in
Washington, D.C. granted anti-gun plaintiffs a temporary restraining
order against implementation of the new rule allowing concealed carry in
national parks and national wildlife refuges. Until further notice,
individuals cannot legally carry loaded, concealed firearms for personal
protection in national parks and wildlife refuges. The court did grant
NRA's motion to intervene in the cases. Under federal law, NRA is
entitled to an immediate appeal, and NRA will exercise that right. "Just
as we did not give up the fight to change the old, outdated rule, we
will not give up our fight in the courts to defend the rule change,"
said NRA chief lobbyist Chris W. Cox. "We will pursue every legal avenue
to defend the American people's right to self-defense." (It was actually
the Virginia Citizens Defense League that initiated this fight.)
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/NewsReleases.aspx?ID=12252
..In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly agreed that the government's process
had been "astoundingly flawed." She noted that the government justified
its decision to forgo an environmental analysis on the grounds that the
rule does not "authorize" environmental impacts. Calling this a
"tautology," she wrote that officials "abdicated their
Congressionally-mandated obligation" to evaluate environmental impacts
and "ignored (without sufficient explanation) substantial information in
the administrative record concerning environmental impacts" of the rule...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/19/AR2009031902801.html?hpid=moreheadlines
.. The Obama administration had said it was reviewing the Bush rule but
had defended it against a lawsuit filed by conservation and gun-control
groups. A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar declined to
comment, citing the continuing case. The Bush administration issued the
rule in December in response to letters from half the Senate asking
officials to lift the restrictions, which were adopted by the Reagan
administration in the 1980s. (I believe that Big Brother has
intentionally side-stepped this issue, letting it play out in the courts.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/us/20parks.html?ref=us
---
TSA Denies Phase-Out of FFDO Program: Federal officials are denying a
report that the Obama administration is seeking to end a program that
allows trained airline pilots to carry guns. In an editorial published
Tuesday in The Washington Times, the newspaper wrote that "President
Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public
safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology." Sterling Payne,
a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, denied the
report and said the program that oversees a reported 12,000 federal
flight deck officers (FFDO) is actually expanding... (This is good news,
if true. One of the stumbling blocks in the original program was that
pilots had to pay there own way to Artesia NM to undergo the training.)
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/18/federal-officials-deny-report-pilot-gun-program-end/
..The administration recently diverted $2 million from a program to
train and certify pilots to carry firearms safely while on duty.
Instead, it is using the money to hire additional field inspectors to
help discipline pilots who step out of line, according to a report in
Tuesday's Washington Times. A Times editorial condemned the Obama
administration's action, calling it "completely unnecessary harassment
of the pilots." Since Obama took office, the approval process for
certifying pilots to carry firearms has ground to a halt, the newspaper
reports. Pilots are afraid to speak out about the behind-the-scenes
maneuverings, for fear of retaliation, according to the newspaper. No
cases have been reported in which pilots have brandished a weapon
inappropriately or otherwise abused their eligibility to carry firearms...
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_airline_pilots/2009/03/18/193314.html
---
Illinois Supremes Toss Gun Suit: Today, the Illinois Supreme Court
dismissed yet another reckless lawsuit aimed at putting firearms
manufacturers out of business. Adames v. Beretta was dismissed under the
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 (PLCAA). The court's
order affirmed the original trial court judgment in the case. This is
the second judicial decision in 2009 upholding a dismissal under the
PLCAA. Ten days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court denied appeals in the cases
of New York v. Beretta and District of Columbia v. Beretta. NRA chief
lobbyist Chris W. Cox said, "We are pleased that the Court recognized
that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act is the law of the
land. America's law-abiding firearms manufacturers must be protected
from reckless suits, such as this one, that have no legal merit. Blaming
gun manufacturers for the acts of criminals is not the way we do things
in America, and today the Illinois Supreme Court confirmed this view." ...
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/NewsReleases.aspx?ID=12251
---
Tennessee Panel Votes for CCW Confidentiality: Tennessee's database of
state-issued permits to carry loaded handguns would be closed from
public inspection under a proposal headed for a full House vote. The
House Judiciary Committee voted 6-4 to advance the measure sponsored by
Rep. Eddie Bass, a Prospect Democrat and a retired sheriff. Bass argued
that making the permit information public is a violation of personal
privacy. Frank Gibson, who runs the Tennessee Coalition for Open
Government, cited several cases where media investigations revealed that
felons and other ineligible people held handgun permits. Gibson told the
panel that his group would agree to a provision to ban posting or
publishing the entire handgun database, but urged the panel not to close
off access to all the information.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008880531_apxgrhandgundatabase6.html
---
Hmm: A Louisiana Tech student involved with a campus gun rights
organization was arrested at Wal-Mart on Wednesday night. Alfred
Saurage, a vocal supporter of Rep. Ernest Wooton's bill for allowing
students to carry concealed weapons on campus, is a senior in mechanical
engineering at Tech. He has said he openly wears a .45 caliber
semi-automatic pistol when out and about in Ruston. The gun drew
unwanted attention Wednesday from store workers and members of the
public at Wal-Mart, partly because of a separate report of impending
gang-related gun violence at the store originating from text messages.
Ruston Police were called to the scene. Capt. Kevin Peden said store
management asked Saurage to remove his gun and put it in his car because
he was scaring customers and workers. He refused. Louisiana law empowers
the public display and carrying of firearms... (I'm not familiar with
Louisiana's trespassing laws but this doesn't sound like the most
judicious from of political expression.)
http://rustonleader.com/news.php?id=5061
Related?:
http://www.thehighroad.us/showthread.php?t=407676
---
Oops, Wrong House: A Lake Wales security guard shot a man breaking into
his home off East Grove Avenue on Wednesday morning, according to Lake
Wales police. Michael Collins, 45, of Tampa, was shot in the head and
left arm by the homeowner and flown to Lakeland Regional Medical Center.
He was listed in stable condition Wednesday afternoon and expected to
recover, said LWPD Capt. Troy Schulze... The homeowner was asleep in his
bedroom with his 3-year-old daughter and infant child, Schulze said. "He
woke to the sound of crashing. He (the homeowner) doesn't know if it was
the blinds or the man prying the sliding glass door." When he heard the
commotion, the homeowner grabbed a .380-caliber handgun and walked out
of his room. A startled Collins swung his crowbar at the homeowner,
missing him, and attempted to run out of the home, police said. But the
homeowner began firing his gun, striking Collins in the head and the
arm, officials said...
http://www.theledger.com/article/20090318/NEWS/903185018
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/18/armed-homeowner-drives-away-intruder-police-say/news-breaking/
---
Canadian Legislator Attacked for Dinner Attendance: A Conservative MP
from Saskatchewan is coming under fire for his starring role at a gun
lobby dinner in Mississauga next month where the raffle prize is a
Beretta semi-automatic handgun. Garry Breitkreuz is the scheduled guest
speaker at the Canadian Shooting Sports Association's (CSSA) annual
general meeting and dinner, to be held April 18 at the Best Western
Hotel on Dixie Rd. in Mississauga. He's to be honoured for his private
member's bill that would abolish Canada's controversial long-gun
registry and relax rules on prohibited and restricted weapons. The
"special dinner draw" of this "very rare and valuable collector's item"
is advertised on the association's website. Raffle tickets will be sold
at the dinner for $20 each or three-for-$50. News of the gun prize drew
immediate outrage...
http://www.mississauganews.com/article/25181
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
