A List Member Replies: The easiest way to disable the cell phone without
pulling out the battery is by placing it in a Faraday cage. If one does
not have one, it is easily made by covering the cell phone with aluminum
foil... The Faraday cage I am absolutely sure of. It can be made out of
a small box (pelican phone case) and copper mesh. Once the lid is shut,
electromagnetic radiation cannot get in or out. A good example is a
microwave oven. The container guts of a microwave is nothing more than a
Faraday cage. You can demonstrate this by placing your working cell
phone in a microwave and shutting the door. Then call the cell phone. It
will not ring, because it will not receive a signal. As far as the
aluminum foil, I experimented with this and my cell phone. Same results
with no signal. This is also important for individuals with RFID chips
in their passports or credit cards. There are commercial wallets
available for cell phones, credit cards and passports through
www.idstronghold.com. (This is in regard to the article about being
tracked by means of the GPS in your cell phone.)
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Sorry Folks, This Is a Day Late: A three judge panel today ruled that
Ohio's concealed carry law impermissibly violates several provisions of
the state's employment laws. In what is sure to be a controversial
opinion, the court held that "a person's so-called right to self-defense
cannot infringe upon the right of a person to be free from violence in
their workplace. The evidence before us is clear - allowing handguns in
the workplace violates the fundamental right of Ohioans to work their
trade in a secure environment." The case arose originally out of a
complaint filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and Ohio Bureau of
Worker's Compensation... The complaints were filed by Bob Smith,
described in court documents as a "consultant specializing in small
business economic loss." A review of Mr. Smith's complaint reveals that
he has been shot during three different armed robberies since 2004,
which is believed to be an Ohio record. Smith's complaint describes in
vivid detail the slow deterioration of his workplace environment: "I
started back in 2001 while I was on probation for drug trafficking. No
one would employ a drug addicted probationer, so I turned to
self-employment. Man, it was a dream. Throw on a ski mask, stroll into a
liquor store, pistol whip a few people and I was set financially for the
month. I was happy and fulfilled. Then that damn concealed carry law
passed, and within months my co-workers and I noticed an immediate
chilling of our work environment. Ohio attempted to accommodate our
special workplace needs by designating many 'no-gun' areas and making
the carry laws so absurd that no one wanted to carry. Even so, we
noticed an immediate increase in workplace hostility..."
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7199
---
UN Lies: Currently, the United Nations is drafting an Arms Trade Treaty
to impose strict controls on firearms and other weapons. In support of
hasty adoption of the Treaty, a UN-related organization of Treaty
supporters is has produced a report claiming that armed violence is
responsible for 740,000 deaths annually. This Article carefully examines
the claim. We find that the claim is based on dubious assumptions,
cherry-picking data, and mathematical legerdemain which is inexplicably
being withheld from the public. The refusal to disclose the mathematical
calculations used to create the 740,000 factoid is itself cause for
serious suspicion; our own calculations indicate that the 740,000 figure
is far too high. Further, while the report claims that 60% of homicides
are perpetrated with firearms, our review of the data on which report
claimed to rely yields a 22% rate. The persons responsible for the
report have refused to release their homicide calculations, or any other
calculations. This Article also shows how a narrow focus on restricting
firearms ownership continues to distract international attention from
life-saving, viable solutions. We propose some practical alternatives
which have already saved lives in war-ravaged areas. (This is the
abstract for a recent article by David Kopel, Paul Gallant and Joanne
Eisen.)
http://works.bepress.com/context/david_kopel/article/1034/type/native/viewcontent
---
In San Francisco?: Come meet national gun rights leaders and your fellow
grassroots activists at the 25th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference
(GRPC 2010) in San Francisco, CA, September 24, 25, & 26, 2010. This is
your once-a-year chance to network and get an insider look and plan
pro-gun rights strategies for the coming year. Past GRPCs have outlined
victory plans and made public the latest firearms trends. They allow you
a first-hand chance to hear movement leaders - and make your voice
heard. This year we'll take a look at critical issues such as: city gun
bans, youth violence, "smart" guns, concealed carry, federal
legislation, legal actions, gun show regulation, state and local
activity. We'll also preview the upcoming court cases and revisit the
U.S. Supreme Court Heller Decision... Pre-Registration for GRPC is now
open! Books, monographs and other materials - enough to start a Second
Amendment library - are free, as are Saturday Luncheon, Friday and
Saturday evening receptions and morning and afternoon snack breaks.
Other meals, travel and lodging are to be paid by attendee...
http://www.saf.org/default.asp?p=GRPC
---
Who Is More Likely to Kill?: Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy
Center is at it again. Regular readers will recall this is the character
who counts on ignorance about firearms to spread the misconception that
semiautomatic firearms are machine guns in order to help gin up support
for banning them as "assault weapons." Sugarmann's new shtick is
representing concealed carry permit holders as violent criminals, and
he's employing his trademark sleight of mind to do it... To prove their
case, VPC cites 151 people killed by permit holders since 2007. Note
they do not cite how many shooters have been convicted, but for the sake
of argument, let's stipulate they're all bad to the bone. A. Barton
Hinckle of The Richmond Times-Dispatch puts things in perspective:
"[T]he percentage of concealed-carry permit holders who have killed
someone with a firearm comes to two one-thousandths of 1 percent. Yet to
listen to the VPC's Kristen Brand [sic] - who says 'concealed handgun
permit holders are killing people over parking spaces, football games,
and family arguments' - you'd think the cohort of permit holders was as
dangerous as the gang at Rikers Island." From MSNBC, hardly noted for
sympathy to gun rights: "From its beginnings in the 1980s, the
"right-to-carry" movement has succeeded in boosting the number of
licensed concealed-gun carriers from fewer than 1 million to a record 6
million today, according to estimates from gun-rights groups that are
supported by msnbc.com's research." From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
"Police and detectives held about 883,600 jobs in 2008." Shall we
compare populations? ...
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m4d1-Are-concealed-gun-carriers-more-likely-to-kill-than-police
.. Last summer, Tom Palmer, one of the original plaintiffs in the D.C.
gun-ban case, filed a federal lawsuit that challenges the district's
prohibition on carrying guns in public. Palmer, a scholar at the Cato
Institute, knows from personal experience that such restrictions can be
deadly. He vividly recalls how brandishing a handgun on a northern
California street saved him from a group of thugs who shouted antigay
slurs and threats at him on a summer night in 1982. District officials
predictably warn that chaos would ensue from allowing law-abiding people
to carry guns in public. But that has not happened in any of the states
that allow their residents to do so. Although the crime-reducing
benefits of such policies remain controversial, the blood-soaked visions
of doomsayers who imagined routine arguments regularly culminating in
gunfire have not transpired in the two decades since Florida started the
trend toward liberalization of its gun carry laws. In fact, data from
Florida, Texas, and Arkansas indicate that permit-holders are far less
likely to commit gun crimes (or other offenses) than the general
population...
http://www.bwcitypaper.com/Articles-i-2010-04-01-234984.113121_Packing_Heat.html
---
Iowa Sheriffs Sing Tired, Old Song: They're sworn to uphold the law, but
some Iowa sheriff's aren't happy with new rules that take away their
power to decide who can pack heat and who can't. Until now, sheriff's
have been able to deny people concealed/carry gun permits if they saw
fit. Under the new law, they "must issue" permits to anyone without a
felony conviction. Local sheriffs say that leaves the door wide open for
guns to get in the wrong hands... For one local sheriff, it takes his
better judgment out of the permit issuing process. What if the person
applying is currently part of a criminal investigation? "It takes that
discretion away because we know we have information but there's no
criminal charge or conviction filed yet," said Buena Vista County
Sheriff Gary Launderville. "That puts a lot of people in jeopardy." The
new law makes sheriff's more accountable, saying they must give a reason
why the permit was denied and allows people to appeal the decision.
Launderville says his department rarely denies permits, but if they do,
it's for good reason. "There's people that have come in that don't
qualify because of their criminal history. It's documented. There's
people that come in that ask for a permit to carry because they want to
have a gun in their house. They don't need a gun permit to own a gun or
to have it in their home or place of business," said the Sheriff...
(It's amazing how all these "public servants" seem to think that the
public they are sworn to serve is much less trustworthy than the public
in 39 other states. By the way, Iowa requires a permit to purchase a
handgun.)
http://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12245693
---
Gun-Free Zones Too Expensive?: In Kansas, a bill that would potentially
add to the number of places where a concealed firearm could legally be
carried has won House approval... "The House bill would allow those with
concealed carry licenses to have those weapons if the security measures
in those building are not adequate. Supporters of the bill say posted
signs that prohibit weapons in those buildings are not enough to ensure
anyone's safety." ... Of course, even if armed security is included in
the definition of "adequate security," how much armed security is to be
considered "adequate" to justify demanding that people give up their own
means of self-defense? The killing spree at the Kirkwood, Missouri city
council meeting discussed here, for example, started with the killer
shooting an armed police officer outside the building, and taking his
gun. All the hand wringing about the costs such a bill would entail, for
keeping guns out of buildings, seems to ignore the obvious solution:
don't pay a dime, and instead permit the people to take responsibility
for their own security.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m4d1-If-gun-free-zones-are-too-expensive-there-is-an-alternative
---
It's NRA to Save the Day!: Last week, NRA-ILA learned that quantities of
once-fired small arms cartridge cases recovered from firing ranges on
military bases, which by federal law the Department of Defense is
prohibited from demilitarizing or destroying, were being sold for
scrap... Last week, NRA-ILA again contacted Senators Baucus and Tester
to request that they investigate the current disposition of surplus
small arms cartridge cases with a view to determining the best way to
assure their continued provision to Americans who buy the cases for
resale and reloading use. Jointly, Senators Baucus and Tester have made
their concerns known to the Defense Logistics Agency and asked its chief
to explain, by April 15, the extent which military installations have
contracted with private companies for the scrapping of fired cartridge
cases, whether such contracts comply with federal law, and what steps
the agency is taking "to ensure that all interested buyers have the
opportunity to purchased once-fired small arms cartridge cases." NRA
will continue working with members of Congress and the Pentagon to
guarantee that the long-standing practice of making surplus military
small arms cartridge cases available for reuse by reloaders continues in
perpetuity. NRA members are encouraged to inform their U.S. Senators and
Representatives that they expect Army bases to do everything possible to
ensure the continued supply of once-fired cartridge cases through
channels making them available to the public... (MSSA's Gary Marbut was
on this on March 24; I shared his web posting on the 25th. ILA's clout
is welcome but how about giving some credit where credit is due?)
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=5671
---
Alabama House Committee Rejects Parking-Lot Storage: An Alabama House
committee has defeated a bill that would have kept employers from
preventing workers from keeping weapons in their vehicles on company
property. Members of the House Commerce Committee on Thursday by voice
vote tabled action on the bill by Democratic Rep. Craig Ford of Gadsden.
A similar bill by Democratic Sen. Roger Bedford of Russellville has
passed the Senate, but it appears dead with just seven days remaining in
the 2010 session. Ford's bill was supported by the National Rifle
Association. It was opposed by business groups that complained it would
dictate what businesses can allow on private property. Ford said the
bill would protect the Second Amendment rights of workers and would
allow them to protect themselves in cases of workplace shootings. (A gun
locked in a parked vehicle at work is not likely to be much use to a
worker inside the workplace. However, banning her from storing it there
forces her to drive to and from work unarmed.)
http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-al-xgr--weaponsatwork,0,896999.story
---
Arizona Second Amendment March: It looks like Arizona will have its own
"Second Amendment March" on Monday, April 19, to coordinate with the
massive gun-rights rally expected in Washington D.C.
http://www.secondamendmentmarch.com. What I hear is that a lot of people
are planning to take their safely holstered sidearms out for a walk to
the state capital from High Noon to 2 p.m. No one is organizing this
thing, it's pure grass roots, no speechifying, no sound stage, just
brown bag lunches on the lawn... In Arizona, with all the firearm
freedoms we enjoy, it'll be more like a celebration of our rights and
"the shot heard 'round the world" than a protest rally against the evil
elitist anti-rights bottom-feeding bigots clustered in D.C. The massacre
of Colonists on the town green at Lexington and the battle at Concord
later that day occurred on April 19, 1775...
http://www.gunlaws.com/AZ-Only-2AMarchOnPhoenix.htm
---
Doh!: Cleveland Browns lineman Shaun Rogers was arrested today after he
allegedly took a loaded gun into an Ohio airport ... cops tell TMZ. Our
sources say it went down at 12:20 PM at the Cleveland Hopkins
International Airport. We're told a security officer working an X-ray
machine saw the .45-caliber handgun in Rogers' carry-on bag and
immediately called police. Rogers was immediately taken into custody for
carrying a concealed weapon - a felony of the 3rd degree.
http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/01/cleveland-browns-star-gun-airport-shaun-rogers/
---
Oops, Wrong Ship: The small gang of Somali pirates fired on an
approaching ship, hoping their midnight attack would bring them millions
in ransom. The ragtag bandits, though, had taken on far more than they
could handle: a U.S. warship. The USS Nicholas, a guided missile
frigate, was tracking the pirates when they opened fire early Thursday
in Indian Ocean waters, the U.S. military said. The Nicholas, which saw
combat in the first Persian Gulf war, returned fire and disabled the
skiff. Navy personnel later boarded and detained three suspects. The
Americans found two more bandits on a nearby mothership and later sank
the skiff. It was not the first attack against a Navy ship, but it
underscored the fact that most pirates aren't terribly sophisticated,
said Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the British think tank Chatham
House...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/02/pirates-pick-wrong-target-us-navy-nabs-five/
---
Rule Five Reminder: ... Not until he arrived at the county Hall of
Justice in Rochester did DeFazio learn that authorities wanted him to
answer questions about a decade-old crime - his 1999 theft of the
firearm of Merritt Rahn, who was then the town of Greece [NY] police
chief. That gun has now become central to some of the criminal charges
against the embattled Rahn, who resigned in October. In fact, DeFazio
did not know until this year whose gun he had stolen. He just knew he
had lifted the gun from an unlocked and unmarked police vehicle. "I knew
it was a cop," he said. "I knew it was a police car. But I didn't know
what type of cop." Prosecutors allege that in 2000 and 2001 Rahn filed
false reports to conceal how he lost his department handgun... In the
interview last week, DeFazio detailed how he lifted the gun from Rahn's
police car. He often targeted open garages and sheds, he said. More
people than he could imagine left cash in their cars, and power tools
were often easy to sell. In short, he wanted money to use to sate his
appetite for crack cocaine. Rahn's house, he said, was completely lit
up, inside and out, even though it was around 2 to 3 a.m. The garage
door was open with lights on there also. An unmarked police car sat in
the driveway, with doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition. DeFazio
said he saw what he thought was a wallet inside the car, then discovered
that it was a police identification instead... (Rule Five: Maintain
control of your firearm.)
http://rocnow.com/article/local-news/2009912060369
---
Tangentially Related: Goodwin Liu has sent the Senate Judiciary
Committee additional background materials, including past writings and
public remarks, amid criticism from conservatives that the appellate
court nominee was not complete in his initial answers to the committee.
Liu, a law professor and associate dean at the University of California,
Berkeley School of Law, has been nominated for a seat on the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. His nomination is shaping up as an
ideological battle, in large part because of Liu's membership in liberal
legal organizations and his academic writing... Conservative bloggers,
including National Review's Ed Whelan, have questioned how Liu could
have missed the materials, especially given that, according to one
answer on the questionnaire, he was preparing at least as far back as
February 2009 for a possible nomination. (The nomination came on Feb.
24, 2010.) ... A White House official did not have an immediate comment
on the criticism...
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/04/conservatives-aim-at-9th-circuit-nominees-questionnaire.html
--
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
