Potential SCOTUS Nominees Rated on RKBA: In order from worst to not-all-bad:
Strongly-ideological, highly-committed gun prohibitionist: Harold Koh.
Extensive record of anti-Second Amendment leadership: Secretary of
State Clinton, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Gov. Deval Patrick.
Limited but clearly negative record on right to arms: Judge Diane
Wood, Judge Merrick Garland.
Mixed record, but with very little positive: Amy Klobuchar.
Mixed record: Cass Sunstein, Janet Napolitano [negatives include the
ridiculous Dept. of Homeland Security report conflating political
dissent with terrorism; as governor she signed some pro-right to
arms legislation, and vetoed other bills], Jennifer Granholm [like
Napolitano, a mixed record as governor, including signing some
important reforms].
Unknown: Elena Kagan
http://volokh.com/2010/04/11/potential-supreme-court-nominee-records-on-the-second-amendment/
Viewed from the Left: Here is an unsettling thought for those who waited
eight years to have a Democratic president appointing judges: Barack
Obama could well end his first term with a more conservative Supreme
Court than the one he inherited... (Let us not forget that appointees to
lower courts, such as Goodwin Liu, could eventually make their way to
SCOTUS.)
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=529856
---
New York Preemption Suit Advances: ...An arguably more important, second
ground for challenging the local law on appeal in Chwick is preemption.
No New York State court has ever upheld a local law banning handguns, or
limiting or restricting their ownership, since adoption of the modern
Penal Law. New York's Penal Law Articles 265 and 400, along with
General Municipal Law section 139-d, comprise a detailed, comprehensive
scheme for regulating handguns that "occupies the field" of handgun
regulation throughout the state. Those state statutes also include
express preemptive language making handgun licenses valid throughout the
state (with exceptions for New York City) and notwithstanding local
laws. We further argue in Chwick that the local law is preempted because
it conflicts with state law and inhibits its operation. For example, a
resident of neighboring Suffolk County with a licensed desert-tan
colored handgun becomes a criminal when he enters Nassau county. His
handgun license becomes effectively invalid, and while his pistol is
legally registered on the handgun registry maintained by the State
Police, his handgun is banned in Nassau...
http://www.thegunzone.com/TGZBlog/2010/04/11/new-york-local-gun-control-challenge-moves-forward-fate-of-preemption-in-ny-hangs-in-the-balance/
---
Texas Sheriff Calls Citizens to Arms: ...Last week, residents held a
town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, Texas - a sleepy agricultural town on
the border, about an hour southeast of El Paso, that looks like the
bleak set of No Country for Old Men. A couple hundred people crowded
into the grade-school gym to hear a chilling message from Hudspeth
County Sheriff Arvin West. "You farmers, I'm telling you right now, arm
yourselves," he said. "As they say the old story is, it's better to be
tried by 12 than carried by six. Damn it, I don't want to see six people
carrying you."His warning was prompted by the killing of the Arizona
rancher, and the spiraling violence a couple of miles away in Mexico in
a region known as the Valley of Juarez. The notorious smuggling
territory is being fought over by the Sinaloa and the Juarez cartels...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125737965&sc=fb&cc=fp
---
Gun Sales Rise in Douglas: Lynn Kartchner, general manager for Allsafe
Security on 11th St. said gun sales are up 20 percent at his store since
the unfortunate death of Rob Krentz who was murdered last week at his
ranch 25 miles north of Douglas by an alleged illegal alien. Allsafe
Security is open Tuesday through Saturday. Kartchner said when he opened
his store at 10 A.M. Tuesday there were several "cowboy cadillac's" as
he calls them lined up outside waiting to do business with him. "The
first two hours we were open I sold four small handguns ranchers bought
for their wives," he said. "We've been selling about two or three a day
ever sense." When the Douglas Dispatch showed up at Allsafe to do this
story the store was packed with people purchasing guns and ammunition.
Most of the guns being sold are the small compact types - 38's and
357's, Kartchner said... Krentz was not only a regular customer at
Allsafe Security but also a very good friend to Kartchner and his
partner Bill Wendt... (Note - this article is dated April 7.)
http://douglasdispatch.com/articles/2010/04/10/news/doc4bbbb681e02d8656688690.txt
---
Connecticut - Rationing Rights?: The debate over where properly
permitted owners can carry a gun extended a local college campus this
week when Central Connecticut State University students protested by
wearing empty holsters. The students, part of the school's rifle and
marksmanship club, claim the university is violating their Second
Amendment rights by not allowing them to carry guns on campus. But state
lawmakers and police say their interpretation of the Second Amendment is
not only overly broad, but possibly downright dangerous... Law
enforcement officials are divided on whether a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court
decision lifting the ban on guns in Washington D.C., including those
kept at home, will lead to a chipping away of restrictions on guns in
public places... If students think they will be able to stop a massacre
at the school, they should consider the recent U.S. Army base shootings
where an army clinician shot several people before being taken down by a
local police officer - not military personnel who were armed and already
on scene, Lawlor said... (The whole issue at Ft. Hood was precisely the
fact that military personnel were not armed and are routinely disarmed
on their own bases.)
http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2010/04/10/news/doc4bc117b97837b804500015.txt
---
Meanwhile, in Iowa...: Iowans were partially delivered from many decades
of an unconstitutional suppression of Second Amendment rights in the
"shall issue" provisions recently passed by the Legislature. Iowa gun
owners were seeking a new gun law similar to those of New Hampshire and
several other states, which mandate that law-abiding citizens, with no
criminal histories, must be issued, upon application, a
concealed-weapons permit. During my 28 years of service as Sioux County
sheriff, I was unalterably opposed to Iowa's discretionary issue
statutes. I believed these statutes deprived Iowa gun owners of their
Second Amendment right to own and bear arms. Because of this, I issued
to all applicants who passed a criminal background check a
concealed-carry permit, and I attached absolutely no limiting
stipulations other than the sensible proviso that the permit was invalid
where alcoholic beverages were exclusively being consumed. All of my
permits were unrestricted and marked: "for personal protection." ...
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100411/OPINION04/4110308/-1/caucus/New-gun-permit-law-assures-equal-rights
---
Virginia Gunners Rally Today: About 300 gun advocates are expected to
converge on Richmond this afternoon for a rally at the state Capitol
that includes state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. The rally is part
of a grass-roots campaign leading up to a march in Washington next week.
Chris Richardson, one of the organizers of the Virginia Second Amendment
March, said yesterday that the rally was a way to raise awareness of gun
rights as well as to keep gun issues in the forefront of voters' and
politicians' minds. Richardson said the Virginia Second Amendment March
is not affiliated with any political party. He said the group is "just
trying to stay proactive and to raise awareness" about gun rights...
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/MRCH12_20100411-212201/336607/
---
While in New Hampshire...: Some of them armed with handguns and rifles,
more than 30 people gathered Saturday on the State House plaza to
protest laws that restrict gun ownership. The peaceful rally included
the denunciation of state lawmakers who last year voted to ban firearms
in the capitol building. "You need to remember in November that some of
these people want you defenseless," Jennifer Coffey, a state
representative from Andover, said about the next election. The
Statehouse firearm ban, coupled with other New Hampshire and federal
laws, prompted the gun owners to demonstrate in Concord. They contend
their Second Amendment rights are under threat by a sprawling government
that could potentially disarm them. The rally and a short march down
North Main Street previewed a larger event to be held Monday in
Washington...
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/701465-196/residents-protest-gun-laws.html
---
California Registration Bill to Be Heard Tomorrow: On April 5, 2010,
Assembly Member Feuer (D-Los Angeles) amended AB 1810 to require the
Attorney General of California to permanently keep and maintain a
firearms registry that includes extensive personal information of all
firearms purchasers. Under AB 1810, all those who purchase a firearm
will be required to register that firearm by submitting their name,
address, place of birth, phone number, occupation, and sex to the
California Department of Justice. AB 1810 is little more than an extreme
invasion of personal privacy masked as an important crime fighting tool.
At this point, it is unclear whether or not California's existing
handgun registration law is helping to fight crime in any meaningful
way. Therefore, it is unnecessary to greatly expand the handgun
registration law to include all firearms, particularly given that
traditional sporting arms make up less than 10% of all firearms related
homicides in California each year. AB 1810 will be heard in the Assembly
Committee on Public Safety on April 13, 2010... (Currently, California
only registers handguns.)
http://www.ammoland.com/2010/04/11/mandatory-registration-of-all-firearms/
Track California Firearm Legislation:
http://www.gndstore.com/firearmslegstatus.html
---
Permit Issuance Dominates California Sheriff Race: Given El Dorado
County's Old West name, maybe it isn't surprising that the big issue in
its biggest election this year is about carrying guns. Everywhere the
six non-incumbent candidates for sheriff go - even Monday's forum in an
upscale retirement community - Topic A has been who gets a license to
carry a concealed weapon... Those candidates in the June election -
John D'Agostini, Larry Hennick, Ernest Hillman, Robert Luca, George
Nielsen and Craig Therkildsen - don't argue whether the licenses, known
as CCWs (carry concealed weapon) should be easier to get. They differ
only on just how much easier it should be, and sometimes that difference
is hard to discern. "I don't think there's more than 5 percent
difference in all of us," said Therkildsen, currently a captain with the
El Dorado County Sheriff's Office... (El Dorado County is currently
considered the California equivalent of shall-issue
[
http://www.calccw.com/Forums/county-faq/7158-county-map-california-ccw-issuance.html].)
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/11/2669894/concealed-weapons-issue-dominates.html
---
No Known Cure for AK-47 Disease?: American and NATO trainers are
frustrated at their inability to train Afghans to shoot accurately. The
Afghan soldiers and police, despite the constant example of superior
marksmanship on the part of foreign troops, persist in pointing their
weapons, instead of aiming them. Meanwhile, Afghan traditionalists are
trying to change the way the Taliban fight. This can be seen by the
increase in the use of sniping by the Taliban. In the two years, NATO
units in southern Afghanistan estimate there has been a sharp (over 30
percent) percent increase in sniping incidents. This is not seen as a
major danger. NATO troops wear protective bests and helmets that can
stop bullets fired at long range, making it very frustrating for the
Taliban shooters trying to hit a distant target in a vulnerable spot.
And there was not a lot of sniping by the Taliban to begin with...
During the 1980s, Saudi Arabia spent billions of dollars to arm Afghans
with all the AK-47s and ammo they could use, and they used lots of it.
But rarely for target practice. Compared to bolt-action rifles like the
British Lee-Enfield, the AK-47 was less accurate when one shot at a time
was fired. The old timers, or a few young traditionalists, kept their
Lee-Enfields, and made themselves useful picking off Russian soldiers at
long distances, on those rare occasions where that was needed. A few
Afghans noted that the AK-47, fired one shot at a time, was pretty
accurate out to about 300 meters. But the Russians had more firepower,
and it was rarely prudent to stay too close to them for too long. So
"spray and pray" (going full automatic all the time) became the new
Afghan warrior tradition... (For starters, the AK-47's could be
converted to semi-automatic operation. Due to the fact that the selector
moves from "safe" to "full auto" to "semi-auto," I don't believe this
could be accomplished by simply blocking the selector, as can be done on
an M16.)
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htinf/articles/20100412.aspx
---
South Africa Police Crow over Firearm Turn-Ins: Over 30,000 firearms
were surrendered during the firearms amnesty which ended at midnight on
Sunday, says Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa. Most of those guns were
from Gauteng, he told reporters in Pretoria. Of the 32,169 guns
recovered, 27 percent were illegal and 53 percent were voluntarily
surrendered. "This is encouraging... we're able to remove a large number
of illegal firearms out of circulation," he said. "This augurs very well
with our objective of [reducing the] proliferation of firearms in the
country." The numbers were most "pleasing" as there were doubts that
people would surrender their legal firearms... (Registration leads to
confiscation - or "surrender.")
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article400028.ece/32--169-guns-recovered-during-amnesty
---
Holocaust Commemoration Day: A brief video reminder of what can happen
when citizens are disarmed.
http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/movieplay-hol-com-2010.htm
--
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
