South Dakota Governor Signs Firearms Freedom Act: A fifth state - South
Dakota - has decided that guns made, sold and used within its borders no
longer are subject to the whims of the federal government through its
rule-making arm in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and two
supporters of the growing groundswell say they hope Washington soon will
be taking note. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds has signed into law his
state's version of a Firearms Freedom Act that first was launched in
Montana. It already is law there, in Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming, which
took the unusual step of specifying criminal penalties - including both
fines and jail time - for federal agents attempting to enforce a federal
law on a "personal firearm" in the Cowboy State...
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=128035
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Washington Attorney Appeals Park-Carry Ruling: As expected, Bob Warden,
Kent attorney whose suit against Mayor Greg Nickels and the City of
Seattle regarding the ban on guns in city parks was dismissed by Judge
Marsha Pechman last week has filed his appeal with the US Court of
Appeals for the 9th Circuit. In his letter to the Herald Warden states,
"This morning I appealed the district court's dismissal of my federal
civil rights claim against the city of Seattle. The appeal will be
focused on the second amendment claim against the city. The portion of
Judge Pechman's ruling regarding former Mayor Nickels and punitive
damages was reasonable, and I accept it. Though I disagree with the
portion of the ruling dismissing the state constitutional claim, it sets
no precedent for future actions, and could add little to the value of my
case. The district court dismissed my second amendment claim on the sole
basis that current Ninth Circuit precedent holds that the second
amendment does not apply to states and municipalities. While this is
technically true today in March, the Supreme Court of the United States
will in June of this year rule definitively on that specific issue in
McDonald v. Chicago. It is widely expected that the High Court will
apply the second amendment to the states, as they previously have with
virtually every other individual right enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
If (when) this happens, the dismissal of my case will be reversed. It is
important to keep in mind that the Seattle Parks gun ban is currently
dead as it was previously found to violate state law, regardless of the
ultimate outcome in Warden v. Seattle. The added value of my case, if
successful, is that future state legislatures would be unable to change
state law to enable municipalities to arbitrarily regulate firearms due
to a strong recognized second amendment individual right to keep and
bear arms." ...
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/03/15/news/gun-ban-appeal-filed-9th-circuit
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Commentary on the Oregon Firearms Seizure: ...At root behind this case
and others like it is our na�ve, hopeful, and sometimes even dangerous
belief that every horrible shooting spree or lone-wolf act of terrorism
can be prevented. We seem unable to accept the idea that bad people will
occasionally do bad things. Every new mass shooting spurs an urge to
assign blame beyond the shooter: What political ideology inspired him?
Who missed the "warning signs," and why wasn't he apprehended ahead of
time? Gun retailers are scrutinized and vilified, even when they've
complied with the law. In ensuing days and weeks, politicians mull new
laws, often both ineffective and constricting on our liberty. There's
nothing wrong with looking for signs that someone is about to snap, and
if he's putting up multiple red flags, we'd certainly want law
enforcement to investigate, possibly to chat with the person and his
friends and family. And obviously if someone has made specific threats,
a criminal investigation should follow. But that's a far cry from what
happened to Pyles... So SWAT teams, guns, and handcuffs...but not a
criminal action? And what if Pyles had refused to "voluntarily"
surrender to the police? "Well, yes," Bloom says. "I guess then it would
become a criminal matter." ... (Take the time to click this link and
read the full aarticle.)
http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/16/pre-crime-policing
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Campus-Carry Struggle in Alaska: Anchorage 2ATF has been involved with
the carry on campus issue. Legal [sic] contends it's the right of
students to carry weapons for self defense as affirmed by the U.S.
Constitution and State of Alaska Constitutions as well as state
statutes. UAA is in violation of state law by its policy of no weapons
on campus. UAA has two options to comply with state law. (1) UAA shall
abolish the no weapons on campus policy. OR (2) UAA shall comply with
state statute by providing adequate security screening and armed guards
at all entrances on all facilities where firearms are banned. Per: Board
of Regents 02.09.020 We are aware that students have been attempting to
get this situation rectified for more than a year and have been largely
ignored...
http://www.ammoland.com/2010/03/15/uaa-concealed-carry-situation-report/
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Setback for Alaska Self-Defense Bill: An assistant attorney general says
a bill that's intended to protect Alaskans who use deadly force in
self-defense or defending property could contribute to vigilantism.
Annie Carpeneti, head of the law department's criminal division, says
her department is "confused and concerned" by Rep. Mark Neuman's
self-defense bill. The Republican from Big Lake says he wants to protect
law-abiding citizens from ending up in court justifying self-defense.
Carpeneti says the state already has strong self-defense laws and that
Neuman's bill would encourage unnecessary violence. Neuman withdrew the
bill from immediate consideration by the House Judiciary Committee after
hearing the department's concerns Monday. He says he'll work with the
department and the National Rifle Association to rework it.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12146195
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Is Ohio Becoming Unhealthy for Robbers and Burglars?: Another botched
robbery last weekend was the fourth time in 4 weeks that the victim
opened fire. In these four cases, two of the suspects were shot and
killed while two others were shot and survived. Though each case sounds
like a clear case of self-defense, prosecutors say one will go before a
grand jury. Click the attached video to watch Lisa Rantala's full
report. (Video is confusing because it initially states that Ohio
imposes a duty to retreat but then states that is not the case when you
are in your own home or place of business, which was the case in all
four shootings discussed.)
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=12144106
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Meanwhile, in Colorado...: For the fourth time in as many years, the
Colorado Legislature killed a bill Monday to extend the state's "Make My
Day" law to businesses. On a near party-line vote, the House Judiciary
Committee said the measure that would allow store owners and their
workers to use deadly force just went too far. House Bill 1094,
introduced by Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, and a candidate for the GOP
nomination for the 4th Congressional District, said the measure would
help protect business owners and their employees from unscrupulous
people who enter their shops. "This is a self-defense bill that's
empowering the people of Colorado to make sure that they have the right
to self-defense without worry that they would be prosecuted by their
government," Gardner said. "We have seen instances in Colorado where
employees of businesses have been charged with the crime for acting to
protect themselves." But the Colorado District Attorneys' Council
persuaded six Democrats on the committee that businesses already are
covered under self-defense statutes. Only one Democrat, Rep. Sal Pace of
Pueblo, voted for the bill along with the five Republicans on the panel...
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/make_my_day_law_wont_extend_to/
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More on Effort to Ban "California Carry": A local assemblywoman is
looking for support for legislation to stop people from wearing unloaded
guns openly in California. The proposed bill will get its first hearing
later this month. The way the law is written now, a person cannot carry
a loaded firearm, concealed or unconcealed. But he can openly carry an
unloaded firearm. That gap in the law has spawned a movement called open
carry. Open carry advocates have been seen on beaches, streets and at
malls in San Diego wearing holsters packed with guns. And Assemblywoman
Lori Salda�a says that's frightened families and triggered concern among
police that resources are being tied up to determine whether the guns
are loaded... "Knowing full well that there is not support for it in the
legislature," Pierce said. "The legislature could not even get enough
votes to override Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of loaded open carry in
unincorporated areas." Pierce said if a person is open carrying, chances
are he's a good guy. The bad guys, he put it, don't carry their weapons
on holsters. (Open carry of loaded handguns in unincorporated areas in
California is lawful only if the sheriff has not designated them as
"public places." For example, Malibu is unincorporated but has been so
diesgnated.)
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/mar/15/lawmaker-wants-law-ban-carrying-unloaded-guns-open/
With Friends Like These...: Sure, open-carry advocates, you can flash
guns in public all you want. Just don't be drunk when you do it. A
29-year-old man who is well-known to the local cops for his imbibing
found that out the hard way in San Bruno [CA]. Christian George Gonzalez
was allegedly plastered when he ambled up to two uniformed San Bruno
police officers just after midnight Feb. 12 at a 7-Eleven parking lot,
said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County's chief deputy district attorney.
He approached Officer Jack Boland and asked, "Jack, want to check me?"
Wagstaffe said. Boland and Gonzalez have "known each other for many
years," the prosecutor said, because of Gonzalez's predilection for
alcohol. Gonzalez had a holstered .40-caliber handgun in plain view on
his belt, Wagstaffe said. The officers confirmed that the gun wasn't
loaded but that Gonzalez quite visibly was, because he "stumbled
backwards and fell into the patrol car," the prosecutor said. Gonzalez
was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public and was arraigned on
the charge Monday... Gonzalez is right on target as far as his gun
rights are concerned, Wagstaffe said. "He knows the open-carry law," the
prosecutor said. "But he was drunk." (Note that the charges do not
involve firearms, only public drunkenness.)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/crime/detail?&entry_id=59166
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Oops, Wrong House, Version 1: Police in Ocoee [FL] are investigating a
home-invasion shooting this morning that ended when the homeowner
fatally injured one of the armed attackers. Hours after the shooting, a
resident at the 2-story, yellow and white-trimmed house used a hose to
wash the blood off the driveway. Friends and family at the house located
off a quiet Ocoee cul-de-sac did not speak to the media. Investigators
did not release the name of the fatally wounded intruder, but said the
homeowner, Dave Walter Henry, 40, is not facing charges in the shooting.
Henry, the owner of D&H Professional Auto Body, suffered a
non-life-threatening gunshot wound. His condition is not known.
Detectives with the Ocoee Police Department continue searching for a
second intruder who fled from the scene. Police did not identify the
fatally wounded attacker or release a description of the intruder on the
run...
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/mobile/breakingnews/os-ocoee-home-invasion-shooting-20100316,0,5666033.story
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Oops, Wrong House, Version 2: A man trying to break into a southwest
Gainesville [FL] home early Sunday made the mistake of picking the home
of a martial arts trainer with a black belt. When police arrived at 17
S.W. 24th St., they found Christopher Brunson, a 22-year-old University
of Florida student in criminology from Gainesville, on the ground with
Mark-Jason "M-J" White, 26, standing guard. White, also a UF masters
student who has a second-degree black belt and teaches a form of martial
arts called Cuong Nhu, caught Brunson entering the downstairs part of
the home he shares with his two sisters. "In essence, he gift wrapped
this case for us. He did a great job," Lt. Keith Kameg said about White.
Brunson later told police he had been out drinking, had too much and
thought White's residence was his home, which officers reported is
located almost four miles away...
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100315/ARTICLES/3151011/1002
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Oops, Wrong House, Version 3: A well-known Washington state medical
marijuana activist traded gunfire with robbers who invaded his home
early Monday, suffering minor shotgun pellet wounds and sending one
intruder to the intensive care unit of a hospital. Activist Steve
Sarich, 59, runs CannaCare, an organization that provides patients with
marijuana plants and advice about Washington's law. "I don't want to
shoot people, but God, this is our eighth home invasion since last May,"
he told The Associated Press. Sarich said he was awakened at his
Kirkland home by the barking of his dogs, then grabbed a .22-caliber
handgun and headed down a hallway outside his bedroom. A man with a
shotgun confronted him in the living room and fired, he said. The main
blast struck a wall a few inches from his head, Sarich said. One pellet
struck his face while another hit his leg. Sarich shot at the robber but
missed. When his gun jammed, he darted back to his bedroom and grabbed
another handgun. He spotted another robber standing outside the glass
door to his bedroom and fired three times, hitting the robber multiple
times... (Any doubt as to why his home keeps getting targeted?)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gpkyQqHz6PUsZhpydSEP4wgDJx0wD9EFBI3O0
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Oops, Wrong Customers: Police are still looking for two armed robbers
after a party store customer shot and killed their accomplice Saturday
night. Three men were robbing the Super Y party store at the corner of
Middlebelt and Ecorse roads at 9:30 p.m. Saturday when the customer, 37,
and his fiancee, 35, both from Highland Park, walked in, Romulus [MI]
Police Chief Michael St. Andre said. The couple made a random stop at
the store as the robbery was taking place, St. Andre said. "They were
ambushed and the female was ordered to the ground at gunpoint," St.
Andre said. "He began pleading with the suspect not to shoot her."
Instead, one gunman pointed his weapon at the man, who grabbed it. They
struggled, and the witness shot the gunman twice, according to
investigators. The gunman then stumbled out the front door, collapsed
and died, St. Andre said. The two other robbers, who were in the back of
the store forcing a store employee to empty the safe at gunpoint,
escaped out a back door. Investigators on Sunday afternoon arrested one
of the suspects, St. Andre said. Police are still searching for the
third robber, the getaway driver and their car, a black, four-door 2004
Pontiac Grand Prix with license plate CCR0052, Sadler said. It was last
seen heading north on Middlebelt... (The only time I have been forced to
draw a gun on a hostile person was when I got caught in the robbery of a
business I was patronizing.)
http://www.freep.com/article/20100315/NEWS02/100315016/1322/Party-store-customer-swipes-masked-mans-gun-kills-him
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Dim bulb Award?: A 25-year-old Chino Valley [AZ] man who pointed a gun
at three people outside a trailer in Prescott received a three-year
prison sentence Monday. Paul R. Koch pleaded guilty to misconduct as a
felon who is prohibited to possess a firearm, according to Penny Cramer,
a spokeswoman for the Yavapai County Attorney's Office. At nearly
midnight on Jan. 1, officers responded to a call about a man who pointed
a gun at a woman, her husband and another man outside a trailer in the
500 block of Copper Basin Road, police said. The woman told police that
Koch also hit the hood of her car and made references to the Aryan
Brotherhood, a prison gang...
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1086&ArticleID=78842
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World's Largest Gun Shop?: Several weeks ago hunting buddy Bill Boone
was showing me a very nice over-under, 20-gauge shotgun he'd recently
bought at a good price from a gun store. I'd heard about Mackey's
Landing Firearms but had never been there yet so I decided it was time
to I head for Jamesville [NC]... The Jamesville store lays claim to
being the world's largest gun shop. I didn't realize just how huge the
shop was until I stopped off there to see what all the talk was about.
From the outside the store looks like some sort of warehouse. When you
walk through the front door, it's another world. I've been in and out of
gun stores about all over the country now and looking into another one
is sort of a ho hum experience for me but Mackey's Landing Firearms got
my attention...
http://www.theherald-nc.com/2010/03/15/13700/herring-and-guns-jamesvilles-got.html
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Tangentially Related: ...Stevens, who will celebrate his 90th birthday
on April 20, was appointed to the court in 1975 by President Gerald Ford
and, as Toobin writes, "is a generation or two away from most of his
colleagues; when [Justice John] Roberts served as a law clerk to William
H. Rehnquist, Stevens had already been a Justice for five years."
Speculation is growing that Stevens will step down from the court at the
end of the current term, in June 2010... (My impression is that the
comments about the aftermath of the McDonald ruling are those of the
Toobin, not of Stevens.)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124597191&ps=cprs
The Feds are on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too. U.S.
law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into
popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online
profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information,
according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a
tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.
Think you know who's behind that "friend" request? Think again. Your new
"friend" just might be the FBI... (Yes, we do have a few self-identified
federal agents and retired federal agents on this mailing list.)
http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2010/03/16/break_the_law_and_your_new_friend_may_be_the_fbi?page=full
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
The tactics and skills to use a firearm
in self-defense don't come naturally
with the right to keep and bear arms.
http://www.spw-duf.info
