The perils of poor Facebook personal information security habits

From the Granite State, comes this reminder to practice good social networking information security:

NASHUA, N.H. -- Nashua police are crediting an alert off-duty police officer who heard fireworks with cracking a burglary ring that targeted homes known to be empty because of Facebook postings.

Police said they recovered between $100,000 and $200,000 worth of stolen property as a result of the investigation.

Police said there were 50 home burglaries in the city in August. Investigators said the suspects used social networking sites such as Facebook to identify victims who posted online that they would not be home at a certain time. [emphasis added]

"Be careful of what you post on these social networking sites," said Capt. Ron Dickerson. "We know for a fact that some of these players, some of these criminals, were looking on these sites and identifying their targets through these social networking sites." ...

Read the rest here. A good reminder to be careful what you share online, and to make sure your Facebooking, MySpaceing, blogging, and Twittering spouses, kids, relatives, friends, and neighbors don't broadcast to the whole (online) world your out-of-town / business / vacation plans. Especially if your precise home location is easily ascertainable.

New Hampshire firearms freedom act introduced

From Kurt Hoffman at examiner.com, comes this news from the Granite State [links omitted]:

We've talked many times before [...] about the growing movement on the part of states to assert their sovereign powers as protected by the Tenth Amendment. In the context of discussions here, this comes down to states proposing (and in the cases of Montana and Tennessee, already passing) laws that would exempt firearms, ammunition, and firearms accessories manufactured in-state, and kept in-state, from federal regulation. This, as one might expect, doesn't sit well with the feds, and is being challenged. The BATFE, in the meantime, has already announced its intention of ignoring such laws.

That is not stopping more states from hopping on the state sovereignty bandwagon, with the [latest] to do so being New Hampshire.

Pre-filed for the 2010 legislative session in New Hampshire, House Bill 1285 (HB1285) seeks to “exempt firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition manufactured in New Hampshire from federal law and regulation.”

Don't call the Live Free or Die state a copycat, though--the New Hampshire bill contains a very interesting provision not (to my knowledge) seen in any of the other states' legislation.

Any official, agent, or employee of the government of the United States, or employee of a corporation providing services to the government of the United States that enforces or attempts to enforce a act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States upon a personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in New Hampshire and that remains within the State of New Hampshire shall be guilty of a class B felony. (emphasis added)

Hmm--I'm guessing that's not going to sit well with the BATFE, or the entire federal government, for that matter. ...

Read it here. See the bill's docket entry here, and text of the bill here. Here's the "penalty" section of the bill:

159-E:4 Penalty.

I. Any public servant of the State of New Hampshire as defined in RSA 640:2 that enforces or attempts to enforce a act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States upon a personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in New Hampshire and that remains within the State of New Hampshire shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

II. Any official, agent, or employee of the government of the United States, or employee of a corporation providing services to the government of the United States that enforces or attempts to enforce a act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States upon a personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in New Hampshire and that remains within the State of New Hampshire shall be guilty of a class B felony.

Kudos to NH Rep Daniel Itse and his co-sponsors. This is precisely the type of "or else" language we need in the laws designed to restrain the government.

New Hampshire DPS: No more NICS checks on seized firearms

From the Granite State [hat tip: Tom B.]:

The New Hampshire Department of Safety has ordered law enforcement agencies to end the practice of running background checks before returning confiscated firearms to their owners.

In a memo sent on Sept. 28, New Hampshire Department of Safety Assistant Commissioner Earl Sweeney reminded law enforcement officials throughout the state that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS, can be used only by federally licensed gun manufacturers, importers and dealers. If the NICS is being used by police or court officers to run background checks before returning confiscated guns, Sweeney wrote, they should stop. [emphasis added]

"Conducting NICS checks prior to returning confiscated firearms technically constitutes misuse of NICS and exceeds the authority granted to the Department of Safety by the New Hampshire Legislature," he wrote. ...

More here.

Armed New Hampshire man protests ObamaCare

From King Obama's visit to the Granite State to push his ObamaCare agenda yesterday. An open carrier, standing on private property, protests the King's visit with a little Jeffersonian flair. Predictably, the liberal elites were apoplectic, with lots of frightened hand-wringing. Here are the libs over at MSNBC:




I'm happy to see that the local New Hampshire cops respected both his right to protest and to open carry. Note that he was smart to stand on private property, with prior permission from the property owner (a local church), while protesting.

Of course, given that this was in New Hampshire, I'm sure there were also lots of discreetly armed protesters carrying concealed guns.

[Hat tip: Tom O.]

Gun Rights News Roundup

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

[Texas] Sales of guns, ammo shoot up:

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The recession has hit a lot of people hard with job layoffs and home foreclosures across the country, but times are good in West Texas for sales of guns and ammunition.

“In the nine years I’ve been here, we’ve had special orders, now we have waiting lists,” said Gary Hicks, a salesman at the Outdoorsman sporting goods shop in San Angelo.

Prices have gone up and, in the case of ammunition, shortages are occurring, say people in law enforcement and firearm sales.
...
The election of President Barack Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress triggered that boom in demand for firearms and ammo, said Daryl Presley, another Outdoorsman salesman.

“It has nothing to do with hunting or sport. It has to do with rights. They keep nibbling at the rights. A lot of the concern is the termite effect, or how does a man eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” he said. ...

[Arizona] Guns sales soaring:

AT THE National Rifle Association’s 138th annual convention, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona, 65,000 people poured through the doors. They admired the fancy firearms, snacked on grilled buffalo and were happily recruited by shooting associations. Tom Power, of the Texas Gun Collectors Association, says membership has been soaring since Barack Obama took office. Bill Bachenberg, the owner of a shooting range near Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been registering 400 new members a month. “American gun-owners don’t trust this administration,” he says.

American gun sales surged after Mr Obama was elected president. He had a voting record of raising the tax on guns and ammunition by 500%, and, on top of that, he hinted during the campaign that he might restrict gun sales and create a national registry of gun-owners. The election was seven months ago, and the buying spree has not flagged since. Data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which serve as a gauge of actual sales, reported 1,255,980 checks in April 2009: a sixth monthly increase, and a 30.3% increase from the 940,961 reported last April.

Concealed-weapon permits are up, too. Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina and Montana all report a rise in licences issued; Ohio saw a 139% increase in the first quarter of this year over last. Meanwhile, classes on gun rules in Phoenix are booked solid for months, ammunition is sold out, and gunmakers and dealers alike are scrambling to keep up with demand. ...

[New Hampshire] Sig Sauer to resume shipping handguns with two magazines:

SIG SAUER, the leading manufacturer of military, law enforcement, government agency and commercial firearms, will resume shipping all standard commercial pistols with two magazines.

SIG SAUER suppliers increased production to meet the heightened consumer demand, thus allowing SIG SAUER to resume shipping two magazines with every commercial handgun.

Previously, SIG SAUER had announced effective March 20, 2009, that all standard commercial pistols would ship with a single magazine.

Models that included more than two magazines were not affected. Shipments to distributors and dealers with the two magazines in each pistol will commence immediately.

Op-ed: Sotomayor has decided Bill of Rights doesn't apply to states:

If you thought the Bill of Rights gives you constitutional protection for freedom of speech, of religion and a free press; you are wrong according to Obama Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The likely newest member of the high Court decided that all these rights guaranteed by the first Ten Amendments which make up the Bill of Rights can now all be taken away from us at the whim of our state legislatures - who would have imagined.

Sotomayor has been criticized for racist statements and a belief that courts set "policy" not just issue decisions based on the law, and it has been noted that she meets the Obama intention of appointing a Supreme Court judge with "empathy," but her credentials as judge have been accepted without question – this is a big mistake.

Sotomayor was on a panel of the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit which issued an unsigned opinion dismissing a challenge to a New York law that banned a martial arts weapon despite the earlier Supreme Court ruling in Heller v District of Columbia which struck down a ban on handguns and said individuals have the right to keep arms at home for self defense.

But the panel on which Sotomayor served said in the case of Maloney v. Cuomo that it was clear from the Supreme Court precedent that the Second Amendment could be applied only to the federal government, or in a federal enclave such as Washington. It said the Supreme Court has "the prerogative of overruling its own decisions."

The issue raises the question of whether the Bill of Rights applies to state and local governments. Lawyers challenging gun restrictions and legal scholars contend that they do, through the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment. And that was the finding of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit earlier this year. The Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision last year in the Heller case decided for the first time that the Second Amendment provided an individual right to bear arms.

If the 2nd can be said to not apply to the states and local governments, then why should the other rights spelled out in the Bill of Rights apply? ...

[Ohio] Attorney General moves to intervene in BFA lawsuit against Cleveland:

Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to report that Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray's office has filed a Motion to Intervene in a lawsuit filed by Buckeye Firearms Foundation, Inc. against the City of Cleveland.

The lawsuit was filed by the Ohio not-for profit foundation, to stop the City of Cleveland from prosecuting law-abiding gun owners under local ordinances that restrict gun ownership and concealed carry (CCW). The lawsuit also asks the Court to declare 20 different local ordinances unconstitutional on the grounds of state preemption of firearm laws, on the grounds that the ordinances are in conflict with R.C. 9.68.

In response to the Foundation's complaint, the City filed an Answer alleging that R.C. 9.68 is unconstitutional. The City further argues that R.C. 9.68 is not a general law of the State of Ohio and is therefore an unconstitutional attempt by the General Assembly to preempt local ordinances in violation of the Home Rule Amendment of the Ohio Constitution.

The Attorney General's response was quick and decisive.

On May 29, Cordray filed a Motion to Intervene in this case, in order to "defend this state law." ...

[Tennessee] Legislators explain veto override vote on restaurant carry bill:

... The veto was also overridden in the state Senate on Thursday, but state Sen. Steve Southerland, R-1st, of Morristown, was absent, on a trip long planned on the assumption that the legislative session would end in May.

In a telephone interview this morning Southerland said he voted for the original bill and would have voted to override if needed, "but we had plenty of votes to override the governor's veto."

Southerland added, "All we were doing was upholding the Constitution," which he noted "guarantees citizens the right to bear arms."

Southerland said guns are already present in bars and restaurants when people who are carrying weapons without a permit bring them in. "This allows law-abiding citizens to carry their guns with them instead of leaving them in the car, where (the gun) may be stolen."

The House of Representatives overrode the veto on Wednesday.

"It's important to make sure that the issue is clear," Hawk said in a telephone interview this morning. "It's not about guns in bars. The issue is about citizens who have a legal permit to carry their guns in places where permit holders across the country are able to carry their guns."

Hawk said the bill "brings Tennessee in line with 36 other states" that allow weapons in places where alcohol is served. ...

[South Carolina] New gun law sparks debate:

... The state has long allowed any legal gun owner to keep a firearm locked in their vehicle, in a glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk or secured container in the vehicle. Just not on school grounds.

But after Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill into law this week, CWP holders are now allowed to take guns onto school property. However, guns must remain secured and in the vehicle. And non-CWP holders still are banned from taking firearms onto school property.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, worked on the committee that considered the bill. He said it will not have any effect on gun violence on campuses.

"It's not in any way going to increase any type of shootings on campuses," Knotts said. "The people who do the shootings on campus are not law-abiding citizens." ...

[Illinois] Elderly couple wants concealed carry option:

I don't know if there's such a thing as a typical supporter of Mayor Jim Ardis' concealed-carry proposal.

But my last guess might be Wanda and Ron Swenson, a pair of gray-haired retirees who live in a nice condominium in northwest Peoria.

Their dwelling and station in life seem far removed from the gangs, shootings and mayhem that regularly plague certain slices of the city. Still, they feel the creep of crime, so much so they often feel like prisoners in their own home. They'd feel much safer if they could pack a firearm when about town.

"I would not think twice about using it if my life was bring threatened," says Wanda, who describes herself as a "gun-toting granny."

She doesn't carry one now, but she used to. Wanda, 69, grew up on a farm in Tennessee, where she learned to use a gun from her father and brothers, avid hunters all. ...

[California] Bill restricting ammo sales back:

After being placed in the suspense file, and everyone thinking it was dead, Assembly Bill 962 is moving through the state legislature again.

It passed the state Assembly Wednesday and now moves to the state Senate. How it got this far is a mystery.

In case you've forgotten, Los Angeles Assemblyman Kevin DeLeon's bill would:

1. Stop the sale of more than 50 rounds of handgun ammunition per month to individuals.
...
2. It would license and tax anyone selling handgun ammunition commercially and force these stores to get background checks on anyone selling that ammunition.
...
3. It would require ammunition sellers to get a thumbprint from anyone buying handgun ammunition, and mandate store owners to keep these records for five years.
...
4. It would ban all ammunition sales that don't take place face-to-face, effectively banning all mail-order sales. ...

Comment: If you live in California, you'd better contact your elected servants and have them stop this bill.

Gun Rights News Roundup

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

U.S., Mexico aim to crack down on gunrunners:

CUERNAVACA, Mexico - As Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder visited Mexico on Thursday to discuss disarming Mexico's drug cartels, experts from both sides of the gun-control debate said the measures are missing the mark.

"It's hard for me to take all this stuff seriously, considering how incredibly sporadic Mexico is about its own enforcement of its own border," said David Kopel, research director for the Independence Institute, a Colorado think tank that advocates for gun rights.

The United States should pressure Mexico to stop complaining about border fences; crack down on corrupt Mexican cops who sell their weapons; and stop tolerating migrant smugglers, Kopel and other gun-rights advocates say. ...

CNS News: U.S. gov't doesn't know how many guns confiscated from Mexican cartels:

While it is frequently reported that 90 percent of the guns used in drug-cartel violence in Mexico come from the United States, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told CNSNews.com that the number is defined in a very strict way, referring only to gun information relayed by Mexican authorities to the ATF.

An ATF spokesperson explained to CNSNews.com that the bureau does not actually count, acquire, inspect, or warehouse the weapons confiscated in Mexico; and it does not know for sure how many guns in total have been confiscated by Mexican authorities, or how many confiscated guns may not have serial numbers. [emphasis added]

Also, the ATF spokesperson said there are warehouses in Mexico full of confiscated guns, the serial numbers for which may or may not have been sent to the bureau.

“There are guns sitting in warehouses down there,” the ATF spokesperson told CNSNews.com. “We would not know that [overall number] because we are only limited to the weapons that they send to be traced.”

Hence, the estimate about the number of guns from the United States that end up being used in drug cartel violence is based solely on the weapons’ information sent by Mexican authorities to the ATF, said the spokesperson. These data include the serial number, manufacturer, and the make and model. [emphasis added]

Despite numerous queries by CNSNews.com, the ATF was unable to provide data on the total number of guns confiscated in drug-related violence and how many of those weapons are untraceable, because it bases its calculations on what the Mexican authorities communicate.
...
In other words, about 7,500 guns in 2008 and 3,300 guns in 2007, which totals 10,080 for that two-year period. That total, the number of guns traced back to the United States, does not equal 90 percent of 35,021 firearms – it equals 35 percent.

But even that number is suspect because the ATF does not necessarily know how many guns have been confiscated by Mexican authorities or how many do not have serial numbers. The ATF also told CNSNews.com that out of the 90 percent figure, it did not know how many of those weapons were fully or semi-automatic. [emphasis added]

“No, I don’t know that,” the spokesperson told CNSNews.com. ...

Comment: And the reason we should trust anything the corrupt Mexican government tells is what, exactly? Yet another reason to question the numbers.


[Texas] Campus carry bill still being debated:

Holders of concealed handgun licenses could bring their weapons to college campuses if Rio Grande Valley lawmakers have their way.

A proposal working its way through the state Legislature would lift a ban on handguns on campuses of both private and public institutions.

Proponents of the bill view it as a way to preserve gun owners' rights while promoting safety on campus, arguing that if students or staff on campus had weapons, they would have a better chance defending themselves against a Virginia Tech-style shooting. ...

Courtesy of Obama, gun dealers' business booming:

... At Jay's Sporting Goods in Clare, salesman Tim McCall said the store had been largely cleaned out of 9mm pistol ammunition and was experiencing massive sales of .40 and .45 caliber ammo.

"Anything for personal protection is selling like crazy," he said. "They're also buying a lot of .223 and 7.6x39 Russian."

The latter are common calibers among the so-called "black guns," semiautomatic versions of U.S. and Russian military guns that have a Rambo look but in truth are no more deadly than traditional semiautomatic hunting rifles.

At Cabela's in Dundee, operations manager John Woniewski said ammunition "is selling like wildfire. Anything that's a center fire round is selling."

And while some stores have raised prices on ammunition, Woniewski said, "Our prices haven't really changed much this year. The only question is whether this demand will keep up."

I first saw the ammunition sales phenomenon in Florida about a month ago when I stopped at an outdoors store to price a handgun. The display case had only a few .22 caliber revolvers left, and the store had a backorder of at least two months on new shipments.

Standing at the cash register was a man with enough ammunition in his arms to overthrow the government of a small country. It was for 9mm and .45 caliber handguns and a .223 rifle.

When I asked why he developed a sudden urge to buy a few thousand rounds, he looked at me like I came from Mars. ...

[New Hampshire] Ammo sales booming:

MANCHESTER – Panic buying of ammunition has created shortages for bullets and is slowly pushing up wholesale prices for ammo, according to New Hampshire gun dealers.

Some of the shortages have been so severe that it's been tough for dealers to secure certain types of ammunition. The dealers report that ammunition makers are producing as many bullets as they can -- but that hasn't yet translated to having plenty of stock in stores.

It's also caused wholesale prices to go up a bit, even though the cost of the raw materials going into the bullets has dropped sharply over the past few months.

The root cause of the problem is based on the same panic buying that has sent firearms sales skyrocketing over the past few months. When it comes to ammunition sales, the gun dealers describe a situation that could come straight out an economics textbook.
...
How much demand has there been for ammunition? Consider what happened at Al Reedy's store recently.

Reedy, the owner of Sportsman's Trading Co. in Amherst, recalled that on one recent day, his store got in a shipment of seven pallets of ammunition. In total, the shipment was for several hundred cases of ammunition, at 1,000 rounds per case.

"We opened up the store at ten o'clock, and by 1:30 it was done," Reedy recalled. "We had people from all over."

"It's creating a lot of confusion," Reedy said of the supply situation. "Distributors are going nuts. You'll call your big distributors who have huge warehouses, and they have nothing."

"Right now, the big run is on four particular items: 9mm handgun ammunition, .380-caliber handgun ammunition, .45-caliber handgun ammunition and .223-caliber ammunuition," said Yule, of Wildlife Taxidermy. ...

Attorney Don Kates opines that Obama and Congress will avoid CCW ban:

... Now we are told, on what basis I know not, that Obama is planning a federal ban on concealed carry. It is certainly true that Obama is deeply anti-gun despite his mendacious pretenses to the contrary. And it is true that he is from one of the few states that has no exception allowing issuance of concealed-carry permits.

But it is hard to overstate how preposterously paranoid it sounds to suggest that Obama is planning to try to cancel out the NRA's CCW revolution.

Let's begin by understanding the legal basis for concealed-carry laws. Every state except Vermont and possibly Alaska bans concealed carry as a matter of state law. Provisions for a permit (shall-issue or discretionary-issue) are exceptions to that law. The federal government has no constitutional power to alter or abolish state laws.

There are only two ways the federal government could reverse the concealed-carry tide. Congress--not Obama--could enact a federal law conditioning receipt of some kind of federal funds on every state having a concealed-carry ban with no permit exception.
...
The other way to reverse gains in concealed carry would be for Congress--not Obama--to enact a federal ban.

Obama cannot do either except by an act of Congress. And Congress is very unlikely to do either. Congress has more than 190 Republicans, most of whom would vote against either, plus well over 100 Democrats who are at least nominally pro-gun.

And every member of Congress remembers how Congress went Republican in 1994 for the first time in almost 50 years--by passing an "assault weapon" ban.
...
My predictions are that Obama would never propose such legislation, and, if he did, it would never even get a committee hearing, much less pass out of committee.

In addition, both instances in which the federal government could overturn state concealed-carry laws raise grave constitutional questions.

Yes, Congress could enact a federal law conditioning receipt of federal funds on every state having a concealed-carry ban with no permit provision. Again, this is how Congress enacted the national 55 mph limit, which it later aborted.

But there is no constitutional right to drive whereas there is a constitutional right to arms. And there is the 10th Amendment, which guarantees states' rights, including the right to legislate their own laws.

Now I am not saying the Supreme Court definitely would overturn such a law. What I am saying is that it raises grave constitutional questions, and I can't see Congress passing it.
...
But I don't think Congress would ever pass such a ban. Having come back into power finally--courtesy of a president who, however mendaciously, avows support for the right to arms--Democrats are liable to avoid the gun issue like the plague.

They learned in 1994 that attacking guns was unendurably costly. Finally back in power, they have a vast agenda of items they believe are really important.

That agenda does not include guns and they will probably not imperil it by attacking guns.

Comment: I do not share Mr. Kates' sanguine view that the Dems and Obama won't try to get more gun control passed. My view is that they are simply waiting for the right crisis to do so. And obviously, lots of Americans are voting with their wallets at gun stores throughout the country that they think more infringements are on the way.


[Illinois] Two more counties add concealed carry referendums to ballots:

Two more Southern Illinois counties have included concealed carry advisory referendums on their ballots this Tuesday that proponents say will help convince state lawmakers that laws need to be passed to allow for it.

The effectiveness of those referendums being included on Illinois voting ballots has yet to be seen, says an anti-handgun lobbyist.

Tom Menard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said this particular election day that focuses mostly on municipal, township and school board races traditionally shows a low turnout, about 20 percent, and is not an accurate snapshot of populace attitudes and thinking.

Two Southern Illinois counties - Johnson and Pope - have included the yes-no question on their ballots which asks voters if the state Legislature should enact legislation enabling trained and licensed citizens to carry firearms for self-defense and other lawful uses.

Four Southern Illinois counties - Crawford, Franklin, Saline and Union - included the question on their ballots in November and joined six other counties in seeing the referendum approved. Six jurisdictions said no.

"There's no doubt they (Johnson and Pope counties) will pass this. We're trying to get as many counties on board as possible. This is not a Democrat-Republican issue. This should have been done much earlier," said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, who represents those counties. ...

[Wisconsin] State Supreme Court candidates clash on gun rights:

Waukesha - The state Supreme Court campaign is ending with a fight over a new issue: Who is the better friend of Wisconsin gun owners?

Challenger Randy Koschnick, a Jefferson County circuit judge, told Carroll University Republicans last week that a 2003 dissenting opinion written by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson showed a "hostility to gun owners" and their constitutional rights.

Responding later, Abrahamson said: "Nothing in my record is hostile to gun owners. Nothing in my record is hostile to any group, any individual, any entity.

"Judge Koschnick is doing anything at all to mislead the voters and distort the record."

Abrahamson and Koschnick compete in Tuesday's nonpartisan election for a 10-year term. She was appointed in 1976 and has been chief justice since 1996. He has been a circuit judge for 10 years.

The latest dispute centers on a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon that the Supreme Court overturned.

The charge was filed after Milwaukee police found Munir A. Hamdan, the owner of a grocery and liquor store who had been robbed several times, carrying a handgun in the store in 1999.

Koschnick said he was glad that a Supreme Court majority ignored Abrahamson and overturned Hamdan's conviction. He said voters approved a constitutional amendment that "enshrines" the rights of Wisconsin residents to have guns to protect themselves, to hunt and to use for any other legal purpose.

For gun owners such as Hamdan, the constitutional guarantee "supersedes" Wisconsin's law against carrying concealed weapons, Koschnick said.

The case involved "a guy with a gun, in his own store, who is protecting himself and his own family," he said. ...

[Montana] Bill on governor's desk would buck federal gun laws:

HELENA - Montana-made guns could spark a court showdown over states' rights if the governor signs a bill to release some firearms from federal regulation.

House Bill 246, sponsored by Republican Rep. Joel Boniek of Livingston, seeks to exempt guns made and kept in Montana from federal background checks and dealership licensing. It also applies to ammunition and weapons components. [emphasis added]

The measure passed the Legislature easily, and now awaits action by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The governor has not taken a position on the bill, which its supporters hope will trigger a legal battle to affirm states' rights. They say it is less about firearms, than testing the Constitutional basis for federal control over the states.

Comment: If the governor signs the bill into law, this might make an interesting test case, assuming the feds bite and challenge the law in court.


[Montana] Consensus on gun rights bill reached, passage expected:

HELENA - By agreeing that concealed weapons can still be allowed in hospitals, lawmakers were able to find consensus on a sweeping gun-reform bill Tuesday morning.

House Bill 228, sponsored by Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel, began the session amidst vociferous debate between gun-rights advocates who said the bill brought needed freedoms to Montana and a law enforcement community that said the bill would make their jobs more dangerous and more difficult.

However, representatives for law enforcement, county attorneys and the attorney general dropped their opposition to the bill after the Senate passed a slate of amendments that took out the most controversial aspects of the bill. That included removing language that would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons inside Montana cities and towns without a permit.

The House agreed to most of the amendments, but rejected language inserted by the Senate to make it illegal to carry concealed weapons in health care facilities.

Kerns said banning concealed weapons inside hospitals would be a step backward for gun rights.
...
As it is now written, the bill:

• Allows anyone who feels physically threatened to use deadly force, rather than flee or call the police, providing that the person is where he is legally.

• Allows most people to openly carry a firearm and brandish it if they are threatened with bodily harm. This section of the bill states specifically that it does not affect the ability of the Board of Regents to regulate weapons on Montana campuses.

• Allows people to shoot home intruders if they “reasonably” believe it is necessary to prevent being harmed, or to prevent a felony from being committed.

• Prohibits law enforcement from destroying firearms.

• Prohibits landlords and hotels from preventing their tenants or guests from having a gun.

• Stipulates that if a person claims self defense in a criminal trial, the state has the burden to prove otherwise. ...

Comment: Overall, looks like a win for gun rights. Seems like the only major provision dropped was the "Alaska style" carry provision (no permit for concealed carry necessary, but permits available for those who want them for reciprocity / recognition purposes for travel in other states). Maybe next year.

Gun Rights News Roundup

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

[Virginia] Gun, ammo sales rising:

Ammunition was running out so fast at a gun show late last year in Richmond that one man tried to grab a big can of .223-caliber bullets just as another guy was trying to pay for it.

There was an argument. “One guy’s coming over his shoulder trying to grab” his can of 500 rounds of ammo, recalled Josh Golden, a gun and ammo dealer who was selling items at the Richmond Gun Show that day on Nov. 15. “They were his, and he was going to let him know that they were his.“

In November, firearms transactions spiked about 60 percent over November ‘07 in Virginia, and they’re up so far this year, too, according to the number of state police background checks for firearm purchases.

Also, dealers in Virginia and elsewhere say ammunition sales are soaring and it is difficult to keep certain items in stock.

The reasons: worries about what President Barack Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress might do with gun legislation, about the possible return of the assault-weapons ban and about increased crime during the recession.
...
Joe Cacciotti of Chesterfield said people have learned they can’t trust the government and they don’t feel like they are being represented, adding that criminals get only a slap on the wrist.

The first time a law-enforcement officer goes into someone’s home and confiscates his gun, he said, that will be "the first shot being fired for the second American Revolution to begin." [emphasis added]

Meanwhile, the gun business is thriving. Bob Moates, who owns three gun stores in Virginia, including one in Midlothian, says he hasn’t seen such brisk business since the mid-1960s, when there were race- and anti-war riots across the United States.

This will last longer, he believes, because there is a fundamental fear of what will happen to gun rights.

"People are very concerned about his allegiance to the Second Amendment," he said of Obama. The administration’s stance on guns is "very dubious."

Jerry Thompson, president of Dominion Shooting Range on Turner Road in Chesterfield, said he is seeing ammunition shortages in almost every caliber. That is hurting his shooting-range business, he said, but he is seeing increased interest in firearm-safety classes for people seeking concealed-weapon permits.

"We’re scheduled 60 days out," he said. "Before, every once in a blue moon, we would have an overflow class. Now we have three overflow classes going." ...

[New Hampshire] Op-ed: Gun, ammo sales rising, gun control debate continues:

Like it or not, gun sales are, well, booming. There are a number of reasons, but the most prevalent is people are afraid the Obama administration, sooner or later, will get around to creating more-restrictive gun ownership laws and taxes. And those are not unfounded fears.

So gun owners are stocking up on ammunition, handguns and semiautomatic rifles. Sales are up 50 percent since Barack Obama was elected.

And gun-control advocates have taken notice.
...
The debate over gun control has been a long one, and it will continue.

More laws placing restrictions and bans on some types of weapons are possible. More laws regulating the sales of guns are also possible. Higher taxes on gun and ammunition are possible.

But there are plenty of proponents of gun ownership to challenge and argue against such regulations.

The Second Amendment still gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms. Gun ownership and possession are legal in this country.

People use them for hunting, for target shooting, for collections, for protection.

Sadly, some people use them in robberies and murders. But such people are breaking our laws when they do so. Such are not the actions of responsible gun owners. And no law can totally prevent such actions. ...

Comment: Like so many in the media (and some gun owners), the editorialist gets it wrong when he/she says that "[t]he Second Amendment still gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms." (emphasis mine) No, the Second Amendment merely protects a pre-existing fundamental human right.


[Florida] Gun, ammo sales rising, CCW permit applications up:

TAMPA - Fear has some people turning to guns for protection.

"We're on track to selling twice as many as we sold last year," said Andre Chiasson of A-1 Pawn Shop in Seminole Heights.

Some people are worried about the recession; others believe a new president will mean bans on weapons.

Chiasson's store sold about 600 guns in 2008. During the first three months of this year, customers have bought 300. It's a trend statewide and beyond.

Federal and local agencies don't track gun sales. One method of gauging the increase is by looking at new applications for concealed weapons permits. The Tampa Bay area is on pace this year to exceed permit applications from previous years, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
...
"People really want to protect what's theirs," said Bruce Kitzis, manager of Shoot Straight Guns & Range near the Florida State Fairgrounds.

He's seeing more first-time buyers and more customers interested in obtaining concealed weapons permits. Shoot Straight recently added a third weekly class to help new owners fill out the cumbersome state application and learn to use their guns – a permit requirement. ...

[Oklahoma] CCW permit applications up:

Concealed carry licensing is becoming more popular with Oklahoma residents.

According to reports from Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), 8,799 self defense act licenses were approved in 2002. Five years later, OSBI issued 18,510 permits in 2008. Females licensed in the state last year numbered 4,237, while 14,273 men obtained their permits.

The bureau issued 16,426 permits in 2007, 9,591 in 2006 and 10,450 in 2005.

Sergeant Brent Crittenden of Pryor Police Department said he is getting a lot more calls from people interested in obtaining a concealed carry permit. He has been teaching the self-defense class for over five years. Crittenden said last year has been his busiest.

Crittenden, range master for the Pryor police, has trained police officers in firearm instruction for over 20 years. He trains new recruits at the state police academy.

Crittenden will be teaching a concealed carry class at Pryor Creek Community Church on Sunday, April 5.

Pryor Assistant Police Chief Derek Melton, pastor of Pryor Creek Community Church, said his church wants to open the class to the community.

“We want guns in the hands of the right people,” he said.

Melton, who has over 20 years’ experience in law enforcement, said statistics have shown that crime dropped in Oklahoma after the state passed a concealed carry law.

“We’re pro-Constitutional,” Melton said. “We’re guardians of the Constitution.” [emphasis added]...

Comment: Good to see an assistant police chief (and pastor!) support the right to keep and bear arms. Can you imagine a church in, say, New Jersey hosting any form of firearms-related class ("ordinary" citizens can't carry in New Jersey, so concealed carry classes would be out of the question)?


[Minnesota] Legal protections for self-defenders under consideration (item is about 2/3 of the way down the page):

... A bill awaiting Minnesota legislative action would legally protect people who use deadly force to defend themselves against criminals.

The proposal would rewrite laws regulating the use of deadly force in self-defense, extending protection to cars and businesses. Current law only protects victims while inside the home.

“Currently, you would have to wait for the person to step to you and attack you and put you in fear of great bodily harm or witness him commit a felony in your presence before you could use deadly force,” said the bill's author, Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder.

If a person enters a home without permission, then “there is a presumption that he is there to do you at least substantial bodily harm,” Cornish said. “He ain't there to sell Girl Scout cookies.”

Sen. Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, said some people get sued by criminals after they defend themselves. Pariseau said this is “not a license to go out and shoot people.”

“We have to enable people to not be placed in a position of legal risk,” Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, said.

“You shouldn't have to back down,” Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said. ...

[Tennessee] Guns in restaurants bill stalls:

The guns-in-saloons bill has stalled in the state House tonight with lawmakers fighting over whether they should set a curfew for customers to surrender their weapons. The sponsor, Rep. Curry Todd, thinks handgun carriers should have to give up their guns at 11 p.m. "The NRA was OK with this," Todd told the House.

The House voted 62-29 to add the curfew to the bill. But many Republicans objected even to this restriction on Second Amendment rights, and Rep. Brian Kelsey then offered an amendment to strip the provision. After Todd could muster only 32 votes to table that amendment, he withdrew the bill from the floor. He said he'd try again next Monday.

The House had been expected to adopt the bill by a large margin. There are 46 sponsors, and a cocky Todd said at one point, "If I asked all the co-sponsors to come up here, there wouldn't be anybody in their seats." ...

[West Virginia] Permit privacy battle underway in state legislature:

CHARLESTON — A renewed battle over the public’s right to access permits to carry concealed weapons is playing out in both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature this week.

A vote is planned at mid-week in the Senate on SB378 that is designed basically as a reciprocity pact, one that allows West Virginia and other states to recognize each other’s concealed permits when residents travel to and from one another.

Attached to that proposal, however, is a controversial provision that says the public has no right to pry into government records through a Freedom of Information Act request to see just who is allowed to pack a hidden firearm in public.

Philip Reale, an attorney and lobbyist for the West Virginia Press Association, insists this is bad public policy.

“It is important for the public generally to have access to information about the actions of those who govern them,” Reale said Monday.
...
Leading the charge for SB378 and its privacy policy is the National Rifle Association, whose legislative liaison, Jordan Austin, says it is vital that an individual’s privacy be maintained when a gun permit is issued.

“When records like that are published, it puts people in danger and at risk,” he said.

When a name is identified in the news media as the holder of a concealed permit, Austin said, the criminal element knows immediately that a firearm is in the home, and when the individual is away at work, the home could be burglarized.

Moreover, Austin painted a dark scenario in which a woman might leave an abusive, threatening spouse, obtain a permit, and move to a new location, only to have her name and address published in a newspaper. ...

[Texas] Gun control at heart of Old West shootout:

LAMPASAS - Some might call it ironic that the most notorious, old west gunfight in Lampasas probably came about, indirectly at least, over an attempt at gun control in the Hill Country town.

According to local historian Jeff Jackson, the 1873 shooting in a Lampasas saloon resulted in the death of four state police officers at the hands of the Horrell family and possibly their gang members during a shootout.

At the time, Lampasas was a wild town and guns were commonplace.

“That shooting is really about gun control, something we still have going on today,” Jackson said.

He explained that the saloon shooting was triggered a few months earlier. At that time Lampasas Sheriff S.T. Denson was shot and injured while attempting to arrest brothers Wash and Mark Short in January 1873.

As a result of pleas from Lampasas city officials, Gov. Edmund J. Davis issued a proclamation prohibiting sidearms in Lampasas County. Jackson said the governor sent state police to town to post the new proclamation in February, but they left soon after. ...

[Tennessee] Senate to vote on permit privacy bill:

NASHVILLE - A proposal to close public access to the database of state-issued permits to carry loaded handguns is headed for vote in the Tennessee Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced the measure sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, a Collierville Republican, a 6-2 vote. ...

[Nebraska] Lawmakers pass bill allowing lawful church carry:

LINCOLN - Guns and God would go hand-in-hand, at least for a majority of Nebraska legislators.

But clergy are either shouting hallelujah or heaping scorn on those who would let church security guards pack some heat.

"I don't like it," said the Rev. Harry Buse, pastor of St. Leo Catholic Church at 102nd and Blondo Streets in Omaha. "I would like to think that we wouldn't need guns in church, though I realize times have changed."

Across town at King of Kings Lutheran Church, an official said security guards have been a fixture at worship services there since the 2007 shootings at the Westroads' Von Maur store and at a Colorado Springs, Colo., church.

The guards include off-duty law enforcement officers who are already authorized to carry guns.

Comment: A good start, perhaps, but they need to also allow "ordinary" permit holders to lawfully carry in church as well.

Gun Rights News Roundup

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

Another article on the flow of guns from the U.S. to poor little Mexico:

EL PASO, Texas - U.S. authorities say that as attention increases on gun running between Mexico and the United States along the border, the illegal trade is emanating from deeper in the United States.

"We're finding guns aren't just coming from [the] Southwest border," said William McMahon, deputy assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). "We're seeing hot spots farther north and east, too."

In 2007, guns recovered in Mexico were traced back to states including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Washington state, he said. Cartels are using long-established drug-smuggling routes that extend deep into the United States to secure and move weapons south, Mr. McMahon said.

Still, "the majority are from the state of Texas" and other border states, said Tom Crowley, ATF special agent and spokesman at the Dallas field division.

U.S. officials estimate that 90 percent to 95 percent of guns smuggled into Mexico come from the United States, and ATF officials say that more than 7,700 weapons recovered in Mexico last year were traced to U.S. gun sellers.

The Mexican government estimates that 2,000 firearms are smuggled into the country from the United States every day. [emphasis added]
...
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, told a Senate hearing on March 18 that the U.S. and Mexico are connected by what he described as an "iron river of guns."
...
Firefights between cartel members and Mexican government troops often resemble guerrilla war-style engagements. While heavier armaments such as fragmentation grenades and grenade launchers - shipped primarily by sea or through the porous Mexico-Guatemala border - are becoming increasingly commonplace, the United States is still the prime source for firearms, ATF officials say. ...

Comment: Folks, we're getting set up for more gun control. Politicians and their government lackeys (who would never distort the truth, now would they?) will keep pounding the "90 to 95%" number (used to be 90%, I guess that fabricated figure was too low) into the American consciousness, aided by the unquestioning media (who are generally enthusiastic gun control supporters). By the way, if 2,000 guns a day are flowing into Mexico from the U.S., or 730,000 a year, how come only 7,700 recovered guns from the entire year were traced back to U.S. sources? Granted, we don't know the total number of guns recovered, but doesn't it seems suspicious that you can estimate with such certainty (90 to 95%) from only one percent of the estimated inflow from U.S. sources (which of course isn't the total inflow)?


[D.C.] Sens. Sessions, Durbin have different takes on Mexico's gun problems:

At a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Crime and Drugs and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, conservative Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions from Alabama said just because Mexican drug traffickers are smuggling U.S. guns into Mexico to wreak bloody havoc, doesn't mean that U.S. gun laws are somehow responsible.

“If they don’t get guns from the United States, they’ll get them from their own military, they’ll steal them from other countries, they’ll buy them, there are markets out there,,” Sessions said. “The problem really isn’t the guns. The real problem is that this group is attempting to continue illegal operations in Mexico, and they will intimidate and kill people that try to stop them.”

But liberal Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the current majority whip, directly blamed American laws and policies for facilitating the influx of weapons into Mexico. [emphasis added]

Durbin acknowledged that the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms, but added: “This [right to bear arms] does not allow us to aid and abed criminal conspiracies in neighboring countries by shipping thousands of firearms everyday with impunity to ignore our laws and policies that is making life dangerous for people living south of the border.”

He added: “(F)or the record I would like to say guns are a problem; guns are a serious problem.’ ”

Sessions stuck to his guns -- figuratively speaking.

“They are already guns in Mexico, they can get guns from South America, they can get them from their own military, American guns are already there,” Sessions said, “and we have a constitutional right in America to keep and bear arms, and we’re not changing our Constitution.”

Durbin, who chairs the subcommittee on crime and drugs, however, got the last word:

“We have a responsibility and to ignore it by saying ‘Well if we weren’t irresponsible somebody else would be irresponsible’ is no comfort to people living in a country where 6,000 innocent people were killed last year mainly because of American firearms.”

The comments came in response to testimony from witnesses that up to 90 percent of the traceable weapons taken from Mexican drug traffickers come from the United States. [emphasis added] ...

[New Hampshire] Surge in gun sales is "lunacy", says anti-gunner:

Like it or not, gun sales are, well, booming.

There are a number of reasons but the most prevalent are people are afraid the Obama administration, sooner or later, will get around to creating more-restrictive gun ownership laws and taxes. And those are not unfounded fears.

So gun owners are stocking up on ammunition, handguns and semiautomatic rifles. Sales are up 50 percent since Barack Obama was elected.

And gun-control advocates have taken notice.

In a story in Seacoast Sunday last week, Peter Hamm of the Washington-D.C.-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence used words like "lunacy" to describe people who are buying guns.

He also said, "In this economic environment, I question the sanity of extremists who are buying up guns. What kind of choices are they making for their families?" [emphasis added] ...

Comment: All you "lunatic", "extremist" gun owners better stock up, because "Hope and Change" is a'comin' your way.


[Massachusetts] Columnist wonders why gun sales are up:

Gun sales are up significantly across the nation the past few months. Some point to a significant change in the White House, Congress and the economy as the reason for the rapid rise.

The Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club is open to its members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

And more people are coming than ever before.

But why?

Is economic turmoil leading to a predicted rise in break-ins and the increased need for protection?

Or is the belief that the Obama Administration will renew the ban on assault weapons leading to a spike in the sale of guns and ammunition?

In the days following the election in November, sales were brisk at Northeast Trading Company in North Attleboro, Mass.

Now more than four months later, gun dealers continue to be busy and new members are coming to shoot in record numbers at the Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club. ...

[Massachusetts] Fears about crime, economy stoking gun sales:

PLYMOUTH, Mass. - The popular handguns are on back order. Some kinds of semiautomatic rifles are even harder to get. Ammo, too, is at a premium. In short, the gun industry is weathering the recession just fine.

In Massachusetts and across America, the recent surge in gun buying has been fueled by fears that President Obama will restrict gun rights, and by creeping anxiety about crime and the economy.

“It’s a tug-of-war between the anxiety of the general public and their lack of money,” said Andrew Molchan, president of the Professional Gun Retailers Association. “Right now, anxiety seems to be winning out.”

At M&M Plimoth Bay Outfitters in Plymouth, AR-15s and other military-pattern semiautomatic rifles, once heavily restricted as so-called assault weapons, have been quickest to sell.

Owner Peter Tache stressed that frantic customers were not forming lines outside his shop, but he also said his “display is much emptier.”

“It’s fear, anxiety, and ‘get ’em while you can,’” he said.

Many gun-rights advocates are aghast at indications that the Obama administration wants to reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. President Clinton signed the law in 1994, banning or severely restricting 19 types of semiautomatic military-style rifles, including AR-15s and AK-47s, along with the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The ban expired in 2004; a proposed extension was later voted down.

Similar restrictions remain on the books in Massachusetts.

Tache said more first-time buyers walk into the shop these days. The discussion often revolves around the recession driving up crime levels. There’s even talk about the potential for civil unrest. ...

Anti-gun retired general wants new "assault weapons" ban, says join the military if you want guns:

When General Wesley Clark was recently on Geraldo Rivera's Fox News show, he said that the United States needs to impose a new "assault weapons ban," and said that if Americans want machine guns, they should join the military.

I don’t know how many times it has to be said, but the so-called "assault weapons" that Attorney General Holder wants to ban aren't machine guns. They're the same semi-automatic firearms that have been around for more than 100 years. General Clark is deliberately misleading the American people.

Clark also said that the problem we have isn't sealing the border from south to north, but from north to south. The Los Angeles Times recently reported the opposite. The paper says military weapons, including machine guns, anti-tank rockets, RPGs, grenade launchers and grenades are the new weapons of choice for the drug cartels. Sorry, General, but they're not getting that kind of weaponry at a gun show in Arizona.

Geraldo Rivera should know better than to allow this kind of nonsense to go unchallenged. In fact, Geraldo agreed with Clark, and wondered why anyone would need an "AK-47 to go hunting." Sorry Geraldo, but the "A" in AK-47 stands for "automatic"... as in, fully automatic. As in "machine gun." ...

Comment: Two clueless anti-gun liberals talking about guns. Might be entertainment, but it ain't news.


[Iraq] SOF Magazine says OIG report shows ATF agents in Iraq engaged in fraud:

Amid the orderly transfer of power, our new Chief Executive has issued a call for responsibility. As is the case with most of his public statements, his meaning is not clear. However, if he means holding government officials accountable for their actions, a novel and great idea, it is something that we can all embrace. It is particularly true of those officials within agencies with a long and well documented history of abuses of entrusted powers. Somehow, ATFE comes to mind as the poster boy for irresponsibility and unaccountability.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Justice recently (December 2008) reported on “An Investigation of Overtime Payments to FBI and Other Department of Justice Employees Deployed to Iraq” during the period 2003 through 2008. The “other” employees in the title of the report included ATFE Special Agents as well as DEA Special Agents and Deputy U.S. Marshals.

ATFE Special Agents were deployed in Iraq on 90-day TDY assignments between 2003 and 2008. During that time, they were paid $4,175,731.00 in unauthorized and unlawful overtime pay. They filed fraudulent claims for the overtime and ATFE senior officials did nothing to monitor the claims or review them for conformity with federal law and regulations. In other words, the ATFE Special Agents, law enforcement officers who are sworn to faithfully execute the laws of the United States, filed false time and attendance reports claiming pay for overtime which was not worked and for which payment was not authorized under federal law. ...

[California] Oakland cop killings may prompt more infringements:

If history repeats itself, the fatal shootings of four Oakland police officers on Saturday afternoon will become the next benchmark in the national debate on a federal law to ban assault weapons.

If there is a grain of hope to be gathered from a loss so tragic, it's that last weekend's horrific events will help end the debate on an unresolved policy issue that has resulted in thousands of deaths and helped sustain veritable demilitarized zones in some of our nation's largest cities.

In Oakland, a city already struggling with high crime and gun violence, the deaths of two officers gunned down with an AK-47 qualify city officials to lend their voices to any national debate on the issue.

While the tragedy in Oakland lacks the scale of the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Columbine High School nearly a decade ago, the deaths of four officers in a single incident is a significant event that sends shock waves across the nation.

The use of the deadly weapons - which can fire hundreds of rounds per minute - has become an all-too-familiar feature in the gun violence being played out. ...

Comment: Doesn't California already ban "assault weapons"? And wasn't the alleged killer, a parolee, already prohibited by law from owning or even possessing any gun?


[California] More talk of need for new "assault weapons" ban:

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Talk of bringing back a national ban on assault weapons is resurfacing following the recent Oakland shootings. At a law enforcement symposium Monday in San Francisco, officers say they are defenseless against the kind of fire power involved with assault rifles.

At the law enforcement symposium, the issue of banning assault weapons could not be avoided. Susan Manheimer, police chief for the city of San Mateo, says no equipment can really protect officers from the high powered weapons.

"It is something we feel very strongly about is a ban on assault weapons and you need only look at what happened in Oakland to understand the power and the danger of those type of weapons," Manheimer said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has said she plans to introduce legislation to bring back the weapons ban. President Clinton signed it into law in 1994, but it expired in 2004. Monday, she stayed clear of talking about the specifics of such a ban. ...

Comment: Of course, the fact that California police chief Manheimer doesn't know that such weapons are already banned in California, might be troubling to rational readers. Until you realize that this isn't about guns, but about power over peaceable and free men and women (although I use the appellation "free" with some reservations with respect to California). As the old saying goes: Gun control isn't about guns, it's about control. That saying is the Rosetta Stone for deciphering most (all?) gun control schemes.


David Codrea says Oakland shootings show uselessness of gun control:

... See, that's the thing. Being a "prohibited person," it was illegal for Mixon to touch any gun. It was illegal for him to have a handgun, to carry it, to kill with it. And California has "assault weapon" bans that cover not only the model Mixon used, but also the characteristics.

And then there's this:

The bulletproof vests that Romans and Sakai wore were no help - when Mixon fired his automatic rifle through a closet door in the apartment, he hit the two sergeants in the head.

The reporters (I like to call them "Authorized Journalists") managed to convey several visceral messages in that compact statement.

One of the bits of disinformation used to justify banning semiautomatic rifles is that the ammunition they fire can penetrate police vests. The truth is, the AK and variants fire a round that is hardly high-powered by rifle standards--so while the gunhaters are quick to assure people their hunting rifles are safe, any such rifle will penetrate body armor designed to stop handgun rounds. But note in this case, vest penetration was not a factor--so why even bring it up?

The other problematic choice of words? Using the term "Automatic rifle."

If, in fact it, was full-auto, that's yet two more sets of "gun control" laws ignored--state and federal. More likely, and information is conflicting at this point, it was a semiauto. But we in the gun rights advocacy community are used to seeing the press confuse the public on the difference. It's actually part of a larger disinformation plan that the media continually either intentionally propagates or obliviously parrots.

Here's what we do know: "Gun control" laws were utterly useless at keeping guns out of the hands of a killer. And when he went on a rampage, it took other men with guns to stop him. ...

Gun Rights News Roundup

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

[D.C] Anti-gun Violence Policy Center says U.S. gun industry feeding Mexican violence:

... "If one wanted to design a system to pour military-style guns into
criminal hands, it would be hard to find a better one than the U.S.
civilian gun market," [VPC Senior Policy Analyst] Diaz testified before the Subcommittee on National Security & Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "The only 'better' way would be openly selling guns to criminals from the loading docks of manufacturers and
importers."

Diaz pointed out that officials of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have stated that Mexican drug lords increasingly seek military-style weapons easily available on the U.S. civilian market. These include: the Barrett 50 caliber anti-armor sniper rifle capable of piercing armor plate from a mile and a half; semiautomatic assault rifles, including variants of the Colt AR-15 and the Kalashnikov AK-47; and, the "vest-busting" anti-armor handgun the FN Herstal Five-seveN 5.7mm pistol, known as the "cop killer" in Mexico. ...

[D.C.] Nevada Senator John Ensign writes and op-ed about the amendment to the D.C. voting bill to repeal D.C.'s anti-gun laws:

... The District imposed a number of restrictions, including burdensome registration processes and reporting requirements. It required parental consent for legal adults old enough to enlist in the military and carry weapons. The city also banned many firearms, including some handguns, which the justices noted are effective for self-defense. All of this serves only to frustrate and discourage D.C. residents from exercising their legal rights to bear arms.

If strict gun control worked, then the District -- which had long been home to the nation's most restrictive gun control measures -- would be the safest place in the country. But gun violence in the city was consistently among the highest in the nation throughout the 30 years that the city banned handguns. The reason is obvious: A gun control law will not dissuade violent criminals from killing or robbing with guns. Criminals use illegal guns purchased on the black market. Washington's police officers are on the front lines of the battle against violent crime, and they know, as the Fraternal Order of Police recently stated, that the handgun ban was "a miserable failure by any estimation." They also know that many city officials are devoted to the gun ban because it provides political cover for the District's dismal crime numbers.

Contrary to the impression left by some on these pages, my amendment will not turn the District into the Wild West of the East Coast. It would apply federal gun control law to the city. It would prohibit anyone from carrying any firearm in public without a permit; would require residents to submit to an FBI background check when they purchase a firearm; and would apply federal restrictions regarding, among other things, mental health issues, felony convictions, immigration status and age. My amendment upholds the court's ruling while allowing reasonable regulations consistent with the constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment. Those who seek to mischaracterize this amendment are only spreading fear. ...

National Park Service wants to ban all lead from fishing and hunting by 2010:

The National Park Service has set a goal of eliminating lead from fishing and hunting gear by 2010.

Acting Park Service director Dan Wenk announced the goal Wednesday in Washington. Fragments of lead bullets are suspected to contaminate scavenger birds, like ravens and eagles, and lead used as fishing weights could poison waterfowl and other species.

New regulations would have an effect in Grand Teton National Park, where hundreds of hunters kill elk every fall during an annual elk reduction program. Yellowstone National Park already has restricted the use of lead for fishing weights and lures; the initiative could extend restrictions to Grand Teton. ...

[Georgia] Appeals court upholds felon-in-possession ban:

... Carlton D. Brye, serving 22 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, appealed on grounds including last year's Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia vs. Heller, which overturned a ban on gun possession in the nation's capital. Brye, arrested in Clearwater, Fla., in 2007, said the ruling upheld Second Amendment rights of all Americans to "use arms for self-defense."

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument Friday. ...

New York Times says Dems still fear gun control issue:

... But there is one issue that retains the power to leave Democrats quivering: gun rights. Gun issues still persistently tie the party in knots and have been used by Republicans to stall two major bills this year, with more likely to come.

“It is a hot-button issue,” said Representative Allen Boyd, Democrat of Florida, a longtime hunter and one of the moderates who typically split from the more liberal wing of the party to support the rights of gun owners. “Some people around here know they can use it as a wedge issue, and they try to do that.”

It is a particularly hot-button topic with veteran Congressional Democrats who believe the party’s strong support for a 1994 assault weapons ban was the real reason they lost control of the House that year — not the House bank scandal, the failed health care initiative, the Contract with America or Newt Gingrich.

The power of that bad memory was unmistakable a few weeks ago in the immediacy with which Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot down the suggestion by new Attorney General Eric Holder that Congress might reinstitute the assault weapons ban.

“On that score, I think we need to enforce the laws we have right now,” said Ms. Pelosi, echoing the position often taken by advocates of gun rights.

Gun rights are probably equaled only by abortion rights in their ability to split Democrats and create political havoc.

Well aware of the Democratic sensitivity on guns and the reluctance of suburban and rural lawmakers to cast any vote that could be perceived as anti-gun, Republicans see the issue as one of their most effective poison pills to sabotage legislation. They were able to add an expansion of gun ownership in the District of Columbia to a long-sought measure giving the district a full-voting seat in the House of Representatives. Now the gun issue is an anchor on the bill in the House. ...

[Oklahoma] CCW permits applications, guns and ammo sales rising:

Four months after the election of President Barack Obama, firearms and ammunition sales in Tulsa remain at a fever pitch.

Popular self-protection ammunition is often sold out at local stores, weapons are flying off shelves and the state reports an 87 percent increase in concealed carry permit applications for February 2009 over February 2008.

"People are hoarding. They're creating a shortage," Jim Prall at Sports World on 41st Street said of ammunition sales. "We've sold more ammunition in the last three months than we sold last year." [emphasis added]

Gun sales spiked in November with the election of Barack Obama and Democrats adding to their majority in Congress. But local gun dealers say the spike is turning into a steady climb with political worries about gun rights as well as worries about the economy and potential for increased crime.

Prall said his store planned ahead for the increase, having seen a similar spike
after Bill Clinton was elected, but the previous jump in sales pales in comparison to what's happening now. ...

[Kansas] Gun, ammo sales soaring:

Local gun shop owners say President Obama has definitely stimulated one part of the economy.

”Since November gun sales have increased 75 percent, 80,” Paul Duke, owner of Duke’s gun shop, said.

They tell me its no coincidence that there was a spike in gun sales at the same time the president was elected.

“He wants to do away with them, the way I hear it.”

[New Hampshire] Guns, ammo sales rising:

It's unclear how effective President Barack Obama's policies will be in reversing the nation's economic slide, but since his election he has proven to be a one-man stimulus package for one sector of the economy — gun sales.

Since November, sales of handguns and tactical or semiautomatic rifles have increased by 50 percent in 15 states as gun shops and sporting-goods stores like the Kittery Trading Post and Dick's Sporting Goods have benefited from concerns, real or not, that the Obama administration will enact strict gun-control laws such as a revival of the 1994 assault weapons ban — or even, as some pro-gun Web sites have suggested, take guns away from lawful owners.

Nationwide, according to data from the FBI and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, November gun background checks increased 42 percent from the year before. In December, background checks were up 24 percent, 29 percent in January, and 23 percent in February. Background checks are considered an indication of retail sale activity.

"We've had a double-digit increase in sales of handguns and tactical rifles beginning about a week before the election...," said Fox Keim, vice president of the Kittery Trading Post. "Manufacturers can't keep up with demand and we are seeing a backlog of orders ranging from six months to two years for certain products."

Smith & Wesson, which has a Rochester barrel-making facility and is one of the country's largest firearms manufacturers, reported in its most recent financial statement that hunting rifle sales were down nearly 46 percent, but "sales of all other firearms, specifically handguns and tactical rifles, were $70.7 million, a $23.8 million or 51 percent increase over the same quarter last fiscal year." ...

[Florida] Guns and ammo sales spike even makes the Times of London:

... Manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand, and many gun shops running low on stock as the US public buys weapons in anticipation of tighter controls.

On the campaign trail last year Mr Obama proposed restoring a Clinton-era ban on several types of military-style semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, as well as background checks for buyers at gun shows, and other "common-sense measures".
...
Personal background checks - which, under federal law, are required of people purchasing rifles and handguns - jumped 42 per cent at gun stores to a record 1.5 million in November after Mr Obama was elected. Since then, they have risen by an average of 25 per cent each month.

In Florida, state authorities have hired an extra 61 people just to help process the waiting list for gun permits. [emphasis added] ...

Gun Rights News Roundup

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

[Illinois] Senate panel says no to concealed carry:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A committee of the Illinois Senate has rejected a proposal to give Illinoisans the right to carry concealed weapons.

Senate Bill 1976 would allow county sheriff's to issue concealed carry permits to qualified gun owners. The idea was voted down by members of the Senate Public Health Committee, which is dominated by Chicago-area lawmakers. ... [emphasis added]

[D.C.] Las Vegas Sun laments Sen. Ensign's pro-gun amendment to the bill to give D.C. a House vote:

Washington — Republican Sen. John Ensign has engineered a major political coup that could leave the District of Columbia with weaker gun laws than those of Las Vegas and thwart a long-sought effort to give residents of the capital voting rights in Congress.

In a victory for gun rights advocates, the Nevada lawmaker led Senate efforts to strike down a gun control law in the capital by adding an amendment to a long-fought bill to give the district a voting representative in Congress.

The amendment stripping out gun restrictions in the capital drew widespread support as moderate Democratic lawmakers were hesitant to confront the powerful gun lobby. Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, joined Ensign and 60 other senators in voting for its passage.

Ensign won praise from guns rights advocates, but he is now facing pushback from members of the District of Columbia City Council as well as complaints that he is creating a more lax environment for guns in the nation’s capital than in his home state. ...

[D.C] House Democratic leaders looking for way to weasel out of pro-gun amendments to D.C. vote bill:

House Democratic leaders are offering the National Rifle Association (NRA) a separate vote on legislation that would weaken the District of Columbia’s gun laws, trying to wriggle out of a conundrum created by their centrist members.

An amendment supported by the powerful gun-rights lobbying organization is holding up a bill that would give the District of Columbia a voting member of Congress. That legislation is a priority for Democratic leaders.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the chief advocate among leadership for D.C. Voting Rights Act, confirmed Tuesday that a standalone bill on the gun provisions has been discussed.
...
If Democrats had a separate vote on the D.C. gun language, sponsored by Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.), it would probably pass with the support of Republicans and centrist Democrats.

But there would be nothing to compel the Senate to take it up. Gun-rights lawmakers and the NRA still remember last year, when the NRA negotiated a House vote on a similar bill, only to have the Senate ignore it. The Senate this year voted to amend the gun provisions to its version of the voting rights bill, allowing centrists in that chamber to show their support. But the upper chamber would likely take up the House version without the amendment, or strip out the language in a conference.

Hoyer said there is also discussion of trying to get centrist Democrats to stick with leadership on a procedural vote that excludes the gun amendment. But the NRA has threatened to “score” that procedural vote, meaning the NRA would tell its members that those who support leadership have opposed gun rights. That’s not a popular position in many rural, conservative districts.

Comment: Having a separate bill would be a way for squirrelly dems (and republicans) to vote in favor of a pro-gun bill, while knowing that there's very little chance that such a bill would actually become law. Let's hope the Republicans don't fall for this sleight of hand, although the cynic in me is not that hopeful.


Montana senators tell AG Holder to back off:

WASHINGTON — Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have a message for the Obama administration: they will oppose any gun restrictions the new administration may be considering.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the two Montana senators said the Justice Department should enforce existing laws rather than propose additional laws they said could infringe on Second Amendment rights.

"We oppose reinstating the ban on the sale of assault weapons, and we call on the Department of Justice to enforce existing laws before it considers imposing any new restrictions on gun ownership," Baucus and Tester wrote.

The senators said their letter was prompted by Holder's recent comment that reinstating a ban on the sale of assault weapons could help reduce bloodshed in Mexico, where 6,000 people were killed last year in drug-related violence.

A spokesman for Holder declined comment.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has said she plans to push legislation to reinstate a federal ban on some assault weapons that became law during the Clinton administration in 1994 but expired in 2004 under President Bush. Feinstein also has backed a plan to require gun shows to conduct background checks before selling firearms.

Barrett Kaiser, a spokesman for Baucus, said the senators sent the letter as a "pre-emptive strike" to warn the Obama administration that any effort to push new gun control will meet with resistance.

"If it even smells like gun control, rest assured that Max Baucus will be standing in the way," Kaiser said Wednesday.

Patrick Devlin, a spokesman for Tester, said Tester's opposition to gun control in "part of who he is as a Montana Democrat."

During last year's presidential campaign, Tester said that he had no qualms about backing Barack Obama for president, calling him an "ordinary person" who is no threat to gun owners.

"He told me flat out, 'I'm not taking your guns away and don't let anybody tell you that I will," Tester said last August, referring to Obama. "This guy is not going to take away your guns."

Devlin said Tester still believes that, but wanted to make it clear that he and Baucus oppose any new gun control efforts. ...

[Chicago] Article: How can a city that bans handguns lead the nation in murders?:

You cannot legally buy a handgun in Chicago, the nation’s most murderous city.

You can own one, but only if you’ve owned it since before 1982 and you register it every year with the Chicago Police Department.

Gun-control advocates and gun-rights advocates don’t – or can’t – agree on how a city with a handgun ban can lead the nation in murders.

To proponents of owning guns it means the ban doesn’t work.

“Laws are only for law-abiding citizens anyway,” said John Riggio, owner of Chuck’s Gun Shop and Pistol Range in Riverdale. “Criminals by definition don’t follow the law.”

To proponents of regulating guns it means the ban isn’t big enough. ...

Columnist: Are college professors "trigger angry?":

... Leftists love to use the phrase “trigger happy” when they are justifying fascistic gun control policies that would curtail the rights of ordinary citizens. When leftists use the term “trigger happy” they get a mental image of a person who is just itching to kill a fellow citizen. I use a similar term, “trigger angry.” And when I use it I get a mental image of Professor Paula Anderson.

John Wahlberg gave a speech in Professor Anderson’s communications class at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). The topic was a general one on relevant issues in the media. John decided to argue that concealed weapons permits would reduce violence and, more specifically, would have saved lives during the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007.

After John’s speech, his trigger angry professor decided to call the police. As a result, John was hauled down to the station and interrogated. To date, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has failed to provide John with the support he needs as his professor seeks to undermine his First Amendment rights en route to undermining the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.

The 23-year old Wahlberg was greeted by campus police officers who read off a list of all his registered firearms. When the campus police reminded Wahlberg that guns were prohibited in campus, they apparently were not aware that he lives off campus. In fact, he lives twenty miles off campus. He also keeps the guns in a safe.

Professor Anderson’s actions were outrageous, partly because the questions police asked were so invasive. Imagine police presenting a gay professor with a list of his sex partners and then reminding him that sodomy is against the law. But, wait, sodomy is a constitutional right. Wahlberg was talking about gun ownership. ...

[New Hampshire] Guns, ammo sales soaring:

DERRY – AL BACON is explaining to one of his regular customers why the ammo he wants is out of stock. Meanwhile, three more people enter the tiny gun shop, doing an awkward two-step around other customers patiently waiting for a word with Bacon.

It will be nearly an hour before Bacon catches his breath.

"It's been like this all day, every day," he said of the constant traffic to his store, Al's Gun and Reel Shop, on Linwood Avenue. "It's difficult to keep up. In all my years here, it's never been like this." ...

[Florida] Guns, ammo sales soaring:

PORT RICHEY - The November election produced an unintended stimulus package for one industry: gun sales.

About as soon as Democrats took control of both the White House and Congress last fall, people began lining up to buy guns at local shops. Ammunition has been flying off store shelves, merchants say. ...

[Arizona] Ammo shortages in Tucson:

After November's election, gun shops across the country saw a spike in sales, presumably because customers worried a new administration would make it tougher and more expensive to get a gun.

Since then people are also buying ammo and now there's a shortage of it.

Rich Eldert went shopping for bullets but instead is finding bare shelves.

"The shelves are empty. If they do get a shipment, people just buy it up like that," he says. ...

[West Virginia] Guns, ammo sales soaring:

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- If you're a hunter or gun owner, you already know how hard it's become to find guns or even basic accessories like ammunition or parts.

Todd Borders is the Vice President of Borders Sporting Goods in Summit, Kentucky. He says finding guns these days isn't easy, even for shops like his.

"Most all the other dealers I know are having a difficult time," Borders said. "The distributors even the manufactures are running full staff and they just can't keep up with the demand right now." ...

New Hampshire resident takes permit case to state's high court

From the Granite State:

EXETER — A year after he was denied a license to carry a concealed weapon, Exeter resident Dan Garand is taking his case to the state Supreme Court. His hired gun is attorney Penny Dean, a Second Amendment specialist, NRA-certified shooting instructor, hunting safety instructor and graduate of the "Lethal Force Institute."

"If you can lawfully own a gun, you should be issued a license to carry," said Dean, who hopes to convince the state’s highest court that appeals of gun license denials should be heard in superior courts. ...

Article here. As Ms. Dean, the attorney representing Mr. Garand notes, the issue before the NH Supreme Court is simply whether appeals of license denials can be brought in either District or Superior Court. As Ms. Dean notes, the Superior Court venue offers some procedural advantages such as longer discovery timeframes.