Gun Rights News Roundup

Articles, news stories, and op-eds of interest to gun owners:

[Georgia] Atlanta's "gun-free zones" not so gun free:

Atlanta's gun free zones are not free of guns or violent crime.

Georgia has one of the toughest laws in the country when it comes to banning guns from school property. The law creates what it calls the "school safety zone," an area of 1,000 feet surrounding any school, including universities and adult technical schools, where it is a felony punishable by ten years in prison to possess a firearm or other weapon. So why do armed and violent criminals keep striking near Georgia schools?

In just the last couple of weeks, Atlanta's prominent engineering university, Georgia Tech, has experienced five robberies of its students, who are disarmed by law within 1,000 feet of campus.

In the first four incidents, Georgia's draconian "school safety zone" law did not deter the robbers from using firearms to commit their crimes. Here are the incidents as reported by Georgia Tech. ...

[Colorado] Gun, ammo sales booming:

RIFLE, Colorado — Business is booming for Edward Wilks, owner of The Tradesman in Rifle, Colorado.
Wilks said that most mornings, when he shows up to work, a line of customers is waiting at his door to get the firearms and ammunition they’ve ordered.

“We can’t keep up with demand,” Wilks said. “I’ve got no time because of gun sales.”

An increase in gun sales across the nation since Obama was elected and taken office, has not lessened in the two months since he took the oath. And the increase in sales also means an increase in background checks, which must be run through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The checks are taking upwards of three hours to complete, sometimes longer, while they used to take much less time.
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Clem could only speculate on why gun sales were so high; however, strong gun sales are only one aspect of an increase in business for Wilks’ business. Wilks said that he’s incredibly busy with training classes and concealed weapon permit courses, even more so than in previous years.

He said that his concealed weapons courses are so booked right now that people who have recently signed up can’t get into a class until November. ...

[Colorado] Gun bill debate fires up both sides:

A bill that would get rid of background checks for concealed-carry permit holders who are interested in purchasing a firearm has fired up both sides of the gun-rights issue.

Proponents of House Bill 1180 say the background checks are redundant because the gun owners were checked when they originally got their concealed-carry permits — which last five years — while opponents claim the bill would end up with more weapons in the wrong hands.

Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the legislature should focus on getting rid of the hurdles that stand in the way of the “law-abiding residents of Colorado.”

“These are all honest, hardworking citizens,” he said. “That is their right to own guns.”

However, opponents of the bill said the lack of a reliable central database of concealed-carry permit holders, and the permits lasting for five years, makes it impossible for firearms dealers to tell if the buyers are, in fact, “honest, hardworking citizens.” ...

[Texas] Local government passes resolution opposing H.R. 45:

SEGUIN — It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes a federal law — in this case a proposed federal law — is upsetting enough at the local level that a local government takes notice of it and dashes off a resolution in opposition.

And that’s what happened in Commissioner’s Court on Tuesday, with the county’s government voting unanimously in favor of a resolution opposing a proposed new federal firearms law that would require licenses for anyone wishing to buy a semi-automatic rifle or a handgun loaded by a clip and prohibit sale of such weapons — including many used for hunting or home protection — to anyone but a licensed gun dealer or collector.

The bill, House Resolution 45 sponsored by Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois, is called Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, and is named for a 16-year-old youth gunned down on a Chicago bus as he attempted to block a shooter from hitting another student.
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Etlinger told the parable about how to entrap a wild hog.

“First, you put out food for it, and you get it used to it for a couple of weeks,” Etlinger said.

Then, he said, erect a fence around the feed stand a piece at a time, and eventually that pig can be trapped.

“And that’s how our liberties get taken away — a little bit at a time,” Etlinger said. “And this is one of the ways they do it.” ...

[Texas] Student op-ed in favor of campus carry:

Over the past couple of months, the issue of concealed carry on campus has come to the forefront of debate in both our Student Government and this newspaper. While I expected this issue to die in January after being overwhelmingly shot down in SG, it surfaced again this week as the House Public Safety Committee debated a bill Monday that would permit college students to carry firearms on campus. In this debate, more than 100 people, including UT faculty and students, voiced their opinions with relatively equal representation on each side of the issue.

At times, I have been shocked to see what opponents of concealed carry have resorted to in defense of their opinion. In general, it seems like they think that allowing licensed carriers to utilize their constitutional right would force our now-peaceful campus into something that resembles the Wild West.

But if you look at the issue through the unbiased eye of statistics, it is logical to conclude that concealed carry would only help, not harm, the atmosphere of our campus.
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The most laughable excuse that opponents of concealed carry make is the assertion that someone who is willing to commit a horrible atrocity on campus will reconsider due to the fact that they are not allowed to carry. If you look back at mass murders committed on college and high school campuses, the perpetrators’ actions were premeditated — sometimes for months in advance. No one who has spent a significant amount of time preparing is just going to stop all of a sudden and think, “Oh darn, I forgot that I’m not allowed to have a gun on campus. Guess I can’t go through with this.” ...