From SAF: Following the dismissal of a second lawsuit against the
District of Columbia by Dick Anthony Heller in U.S. District Court (his
first lawsuit resulted in the 2008 Heller ruling), the Brady Campaign
for the Prevention of Gun Violence was a little too quick on the trigger
in its press release applauding Judge Ricardo M. Urbina's decision.
Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke, who has garnered quite a bit of
self-created publicity lately in his war against Starbucks Coffee,
admitted quite by accident that his organization still believes in
banning entire classes of firearms, despite the 2008 Supreme Court
ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller that such bans would not pass
constitutional muster... The Brady Campaign has been disingenuous at
best over the years. It was on the losing side in the Heller case, but
subsequently turned around and claimed that since there is an individual
right to keep and bear arms, and the door has been left open to
"reasonable regulation," then it is reasonable, in their opinion, to
essentially regulate gun ownership into extinction. The right would
still exist, but exercising it would become a regulatory nightmare. The
Brady Campaign is not now, nor has it ever been, to "prevent gun
violence." Their campaign has always been to prevent gun ownership.
http://www.saf.org/viewoe.asp?id=317
---
Heller 2 and Intermediate Scrutiny: This news is a couple of weeks old,
but I don't think anyone here has discussed it yet: Last month a federal
judge upheld the firearm regulations that Washington, D.C., enacted
after the Supreme Court overturned its gun ban in the 2008 case D.C. v.
Heller. Dick Heller, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case,
challenged the new rules, arguing that D.C.'s onerous gun registration
requirements, its ban on "assault weapons," and its prohibition of
magazines holding more than 10 rounds violate the Second Amendment. U.S.
District Judge Richard Urbina disagreed, saying all of the regulations
are "substantially related to an important governmental interest," as
required by "intermediate scrutiny." ... Urbina's application of
intermediate scrutiny in this case amounts to asking whether D.C.
officials claim to have good reasons for their regulations. He is not at
all skeptical of their assertion that the District's complicated,
frustrating, time-consuming requirements for gun ownership, which he
notes "are more burdensome than those of most cities and states," will
promote public safety. Likewise, he uncritically accepts the District's
claims that "assault weapons are disproportionately likely to be used by
criminals" and "are not generally recognized as particularly suitable or
readily adaptable to sporting purposes," even though Heller refuted both
of those assertions. Because the D.C. Council "held extensive hearings
and heard from numerous witnesses," Urbina is not interested in
considering the evidence on these issues...
http://reason.com/blog/2010/04/07/dc-gun-regulations-upheld
---
More States to Join FFA Lawsuit: The attorneys general for Utah and
Wyoming said Wednesday that their states and South Dakota will join a
federal lawsuit pending in Montana in which pro-gun groups are seeking
to protect that state's sovereign right to regulate guns. The attorneys
general confirmed that they plan to file a "friend of the court" brief
in the Montana case this week, and that South Dakota also plans to join
them. All the states involved have enacted "firearms freedom" laws that
seek to exempt guns made and sold within their borders from federal
regulation. Montana was the first state to pass such a law. The federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sparked the current
legal fight when it wrote to all licensed gun dealers in the state last
year telling them they were still bound by federal gun regulations. The
Montana Shooting Sports Association and others then sued the federal
government, which argued that Montana lacked authority to exempt guns
from national gun control laws...
http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Utah.Wyoming.South.2.1617593.html
---
Why Your Spouse Should Get Licensed to Carry: ... O.K. Now you've made
up your mind, and you're going to go get the training you need to apply
for an Ohio concealed handgun license (CHL). You may even have talked to
me about one of my spring classes. If you've talked to me, you know I've
mentioned this to you. If you have talked to some of the other people
who are offering classes and training, chances are they did not mention
the most important person in your life. That person is your spouse, your
spouse-to-be in a coming wedding, your significant other, or just a
close companion living in the same house with you. Have you ever stopped
to think the potential ramifications of your having and holding a CHL
and their not having one? Let's take a couple minutes to look at this
seriously... (While the scenario depicted involves a Rule Five violation
[not maintaining control of one's firearm], the same situation might
apply in some states if the couple is together and the licensed spouse
slips an unholstered handgun into a glove compartment or console for a
quick trip into a school or a post office.)
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7212
---
Is Your Physician Qualified to Advise on Firearm Safety?: In yesterday's
Gun Rights Examiner column, we looked at a common practice among many
physicians, particularly those associated with HMO/PPOs: Counseling
patients who own guns to store them locked and separated from
ammunition... Ten years ago or so, I read two articles that defined a
unique approach for countering doctors counseling patients on guns,"Risk
Management Advice to Physicians and their Insurers: Don't Borrow
Trouble,"and "Physicians, Don't Borrow Trouble, Part II". They were
written by Joe Horn*, a retired Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff and
risk management consultant. He raised some points that intrigued me...
Well, that's an interesting thought to add to the mix. I contacted Joe
and asked if I could take his thesis and distill it into a form. He
agreed, and working together, this is what we produced... (The only
firearm questions my physician asks me is whether he made a wise choice
in a purchase.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m4d7-Is-your-doctor-qualified-to-give-gun-safety-advice
---
Empty-Holster Week: In the wake of campus tragedies such as the Virginia
Tech shootings, students across the nation support concealed guns on
college campuses. Texas A&M's chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on
Campus is participating in the Empty Holster Protest this week. "The
Empty Holster Protest is something that is done nationally every year
with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus," said Lisa MacIntyre, a
junior psychology major and public relations officer for the A&M
chapter. "Basically, it's to raise awareness for the cause of concealed
carry on campus. We're wanting to get people asking questions that way
we can discuss it with them and tell them what we're all about, what
we're fighting for." The A&M chapter of the national organization is
expecting about 900 students to be on campus this week with empty
holsters. The group serves as the lead organization for the state...
"A&M is leading because the event is more than a protest for the
organization," said Texas State Rifle Association Executive Director
Charles Cotton...
http://www.thebatt.com/news/students-protest-silently-with-empty-holsters-this-week-1.1307653
Members of a relatively new student group at Oakland [MI] University are
walking around campus this week wearing empty holsters to promote their
view that students should be able to carry concealed weapons on campus.
The demonstration by OU Students for Concealed Carry on Campus - and an
informal one that individuals from a non-campus group might stage today
at an OU Board of Trustees meeting - prompted university police to alert
the campus community Tuesday. The university put out a separate
announcement last week. State law allows residents with permits to carry
concealed weapons. But most state universities ban weapons on campus,
permit or not...
http://www.freep.com/article/20100407/NEWS05/4070331/1320/OU-students-protest-ban-of-guns-on-campus
As previously reported, a group of Oakland University students is
lobbying for the right to carry concealed weapons on campus despite a
universitywide ban on civilians with guns. The group, OU Students for
Concealed Carry on Campus, is led by student Jeffrey Lamkin. Reid Smith
is the state director for SCCC. Lamkin and Smith believe that students
should be able to carry a concealed firearm on campus to defend
themselves from potential attacks. As expected, guns + college students
= potential for heated debate. Scoping the Web, here's a smattering of
what people are saying about the group's effort...
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/04/five_things_people_are_saying_2.html
---
Louisiana Park-Carry Bill: A state lawmaker who describes himself as a
strong Second Amendment supporter says there's no reason for special
restrictions on individuals with concealed carry permits inside the
Louisiana state parks system. State Sen. Troy Hebert of New Iberia has
proposed a plan that would give state residents the right to get permits
for concealed carry in state parks, a right they already have in
national parks in the state. "Recently guns were prohibited in national
parks and state parks," said Hebert, who filed SB 534. "There was an
amendment put on a bill in Congress that struck down that law that
banned guns in the national parks and it was signed by the president. So
what we want to do is put the state parks in line with the national
parks where law-abiding citizens can take their guns into the parks," he
said... (I had been under the erroneous impression that carry in
national parks was only legal if it was legal in state parks in that
state but that condition does not appear to in the statute. NRA-ILA has
links to the firearm regulations of the various national parks at
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=259&issue=003.)
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=137665
---
Meanwhile, in Maine...: A concerted effort in Maine to draw the line on
national park visitors arming themselves has fallen short of the
original goal. But the measure Governor John Baldacci signed this week
will at least outlaw open carry in Acadia National Park. Among the
groups seeking a complete ban on visitors carrying weapons in all
national park units in Maine was the Friends of Acadia, a non-profit
park advocacy group that never saw the wisdom in the weapons legislation
that U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, deftly wielded through Congress
by attaching the rule change to a popular credit card bill. While the
initial intent behind the senator's amendment was to allow the carrying
of concealed weapons in national parks - if the surrounding state's laws
provided for concealed carry by permitted gun owners - the measure wound
up allowing open carry as well. For years the Park Service had allowed
legally licensed weapons owners to bring their firearms through parks,
as long as they were broken down and out of reach. Many Second Amendment
supporters railed against that provision, and the National Rifle
Association helped Sen. Coburn rewrite the rules...
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2010/04/updated-effort-maine-restrict-guns-national-park-units-falls-short-goal5666
---
While in "Paradise"...: The government would not be allowed to seize
legal firearms in emergencies under a measure that has passed both
chambers of the Hawaii Legislature. The House approved the measure
Tuesday, sending it to a conference committee for final negotiations.
The proposal gained momentum after February's tsunami warning, when
lawmakers said their constituents asked if their weapons could be taken
in an emergency situation. Gun-rights activists have pursued this kind
of law since Hurricane Katrina, when New Orleans police confiscated guns
in an attempt to restore order. The bill prohibits the seizure of
firearms or ammunition when the government invokes emergency powers
during a disaster. (This is amazing for a state that is otherwise so
unfriendly to the RKBA. Hawaii's governor, at least nominally, is a
Republican; I hope this means she will sign the bill.)
http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=19983
---
Oops, Wrong House: A man in his 70s shot an intruder at inside his home
here early Wednesday morning. The intruder was hit twice and flown to
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His injuries were described as
non-life threatening. King County [WA] Sheriff spokesman John Urquhart
said the homeowner heard someone outside his home just before 6 a.m.,
and when he opened a door to confront him the man burst inside the
house. Urquhart said the intruder hit the homeowner on the head, and the
older man went into another room, got a pistol and shot the intruder.
The homeowner was being treated for a minor head injury.... (All's well
that ends well but, aside from whether it made sense to open the door to
confront a prowler, it certainly did not make sense to do so with the
firearm in another room.)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/418043_shot07.html?source=mypi
http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2010m4d7-Elderly-homeowner-shoots-violent-home-invader-in-self-defense
---
Rule Four Reminder: A Transylvania County [NC] jury acquitted a man
accused of involuntary manslaughter after he shot and killed a man while
hunting in 2008. After Kyle Keith heard the verdict on Wednesday, he put
his head in his hands and began to hug family and friends who filled
several rows behind the defense table. Keith testified earlier in the
day that he was certain he saw a deer through his rifle scope as he
pulled the trigger on Dec. 13, 2008. "I waited until I was sure it was a
deer," the Henderson County man said after taking the witness stand in
his own defense. "That's when I fired. I was sure or I never would have
taken a shot." The shot struck and killed Luciano Martinez, a
50-year-old Marshall man, who was picking galax on steep, densely wooded
terrain in the Turkey Pen Gap area of Pisgah National Forest. On
cross-examination in a Transylvania County courtroom, Assistant District
Attorney Doug Mundy questioned Keith's assertion there was no doubt in
his mind he was firing at a deer. "So you're saying Mr. Martinez looked
like a deer?" the prosecutor asked. "No sir," he replied... (Rule Four:
Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/2010304080020
After listening to his neighbors complain last night about his backyard
target shooting, Mark Demas wanted to set one thing straight. "It has
stopped," he told a reporter. Demas said he never intended for any
bullets to travel beyond his property in eastern Delaware County on
March 12 when one apparently hit his neighbor's home. "It wasn't as
random and unsafe as they're making it out to be," said Demas, who
agreed to have his name published. His neighbor Don Pearse and several
others who live near Demas attended a Trenton Township trustees meeting
to push for stricter oversight of target-shooting ranges on private
property. Pearse's home was hit by a bullet last month for the second
time in two years. Last night, he asked the trustees the same question
he has posed to the county sheriff, prosecutors and state lawmakers.
"When will it be safe? When someone gets killed?" Trustee Mark
Almendinger said he sympathizes, but the township doesn't have the power
to change the state law that allows rural Ohioans to fire guns on their
own land. Almendinger urged Pearse and others to call the sheriff's
office if they hear shots...
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/08/property-owner-says-he-no-longer-uses-shooting-range.html?
---
Freedom Group Deciding Where to Build Marlin Firearms: The Freedom Group
has said it is evaluating several relocation options and will announce
the future production site of Marlin firearms when a final decision is
made. Freedom Group announced last week that it will close the Marlin
Firearms facility in North Haven, Conn, but hadn't committed to the
line's continuation. "As competition in today's global marketplace
remains intense, consolidation of our manufacturing processes and
operating systems allow us to provide Marlin customers with the highest
quality products at competitive prices," said Ted Torbeck, Freedom Group
CEO. "We are committed to the Marlin brand, its core product offerings
and bringing innovative new Marlin firearms to our customers." (Freedom
Group is a division of Cerberus Capital Management. Initial reports
suggested that Marlin production would shift to the Remington plant in
North Carolina.)
http://www.gunreports.com/news/news/Freedom-Group-Marlin-Firearms_1969-1.html?ET=gunreports:e683:183810a:&st=email
---
Tangentially Related: A battle is intensifying in the Senate over the
appeals court nomination of Goodwin Liu, a law professor at the
University of California at Berkeley whom some Democrats consider a
potential nominee one day to the Supreme Court. Democrats vowed
Wednesday to press ahead with plans for an April 16 Judiciary Committee
hearing on the nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit. A day earlier, the GOP demanded a delay and suggested that
Liu's nomination might be in jeopardy because he had not provided enough
information to the panel. Activists on both the left and right view
Liu's nomination as a practice run for the next Supreme Court vacancy,
which could come as soon as this year if Justice John Paul Stevens
retires [emphasis added]...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040703034.html
---
From AzCDL:
The latest word from the Capitol is that, even though it is not yet on
the legislature's web site, the Constitutional Carry bill will receive
its final House vote TOMORROW, 4/8/10.
SB 1108 is the Senate version of the Constitutional Carry bill. Since
the House has already voted for an identical bill, HB 2347, during their
Committee of the Whole (COW) debate, we are expecting SB 1108 to be
substituted for HB 2347 during the House Third Read. This will be "the"
final vote on Constitutional Carry to determine if it will be sent to
the Governor!
Your Representatives need to hear from YOU. We expect this vote is to
be very close and it is not guaranteed. Only your pressure can insure
its passage. We need to make sure that every pro-rights Representative
is at the Capitol, in their seat, and ready to vote for this historic
bill! AzCDL's Action Center letter has been updated to reflect
tomorrow's scheduled vote. If you haven't sent your letter already,
this is your last chance to really make a difference. If you have
already sent your letter, feel free to send the updated version:
http://azcdl.capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/alert/?alertid=14824091
Stay tuned! When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via
these Alerts.
If you want to get legislative news as it happens, follow AzCDL on
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/AzCDL_Alerts .
AzCDL "tweets" from the Capitol with committee votes and breaking news
as it happens.
You can also follow AzCDL on Facebook:
http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDL .
AzCDL's Political Action Committee (PAC) is also onFacebook:
http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDLPAC .
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens DefenseLeague
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan
grassrootsorganization. Join today!
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html .
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html .
Copyright � 2010 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights
reserved.
--
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
