In the old days, police officers wrote traffic tickers primarily to keep people safe and to prevent citizens from breaking the traffic laws. But in the new Amerika, all of that has changed. Now traffic tickets are primarily viewed as a revenue raising tool for state and local governments. For example, a federally funded ticketing blitz in the state of Virginia resulted in a total of 6996 traffic tickets being handed out this past weekend. This most recent ticketing blitz is part of a campaign code-named "Operation Air, Land & Speed". Last Saturday and Sunday state troopers were ordered to absolutely saturate Interstate 95 and Interstate 81 and to issue as many traffic tickets as humanly possible during those two days. Why? Well, it turns out that the state of Virginia has a 2.2 billion dollar budget deficit that they are trying to deal with, and so they need to find some quick sources of cash. ...
Lynchburg, VA - Supporters of the Second Amendment gathered Friday afternoon at the Liberty University (web) School of Law for a gun rights symposium.
The discussion of current legal cases turned into a cry for help from students at Virginia Tech. Some Virginia Tech students even skipped class to do it.
Alyson Boyce with VT Students for Concealed Carry President said, "Two and a half years ago, if you would have asked me anything about gun rights, I would not have been able to tell you a thing."
Now, Boyce is the president of the Hokie Chapter of Students for Concealed Carry Rights.
"I lost a very good friend of mine named Mike Pohle on April 16th and after that, it really opened my eyes to the discussion," Boyce said.
VT Students for Concealed Carry Founder Ken Stanton said he wants to be a college professor. He founded the student group after the massacre because he doesn't believe he should have to choose between education or self defense. ...
After all the howling earlier this week over at the New York Times Editorial Board about Senate passage of the Wicker Amendment, its refreshing to learn that the Board of Directors of the Virginia Rail Express (VRE) voted yesterday to let train riders carry guns. While the Wicker Amendment passed by the Senate this week requires AMTRAK to let train riders check their unloaded guns in cases onto trains as is done by the airlines, the VRE Board passed a resolution just two days later (September 18, 2009) to let riders carry loaded guns.
The new official policy just conforms VRE regulations to Virginia law which is like that of most states, requiring a permit to conceal handguns, and requiring that those open carrying handguns be at least 18 years of age (no permit required). But citizen carry of loaded guns on trains in the DC Metro areas is not really new news.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, pronounced "wamata) has consistently confirmed that WMATA only enforces state or DC gun laws on its trains, so in Virginia the train carry rules are as stated above, and in Maryland, one needs a carry permit for both open and concealed carry. And in fact, almost every state follows either Virginia or Maryland style carry laws on trains. [formatting and links omitted] ...
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.
This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House?
Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation -- the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motives for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?
No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer on the subject? Nothing.
We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.
Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.
Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.
If we wish to be free -- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending -- if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
... Until recently, Deeds [Democrat], as a lawmaker from rural Bath County, had been a more staunch advocate of gun rights than McDonnell [Republican], whose career began in Virginia Beach. One of Deeds's signature pieces of legislation was a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing Virginians the right to hunt and fish. Deeds also secured the National Rifle Association's backing in the 2005 attorney general's race against McDonnell, who won by 360 votes.
Former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat, pointedly declined to endorse Deeds in that campaign because Deeds, as a delegate, had refused to support legislation limiting handgun purchases to no more than one per month -- a measure McDonnell backed.
But both candidates have gravitated closer to positions generally embraced by their party's base. ...
In the world's most heavily armed nation, bullets are in short supply.
Gun shops have empty shelves. Stampedes mark the opening of gun shows. Rising prices are forcing police to bust their budgets. Some have cut back on shooting practice.
The ammo industry says factories are running wide open but simply can't keep up with a demand - particularly for handgun calibers - that spiked with the November elections, and just kept going.
Robert House, owner of Classic Firearms in Virginia Beach, has been selling guns and ammo in Hampton Roads for 30 years. From time to time, popular guns have been hard to keep in stock. But ammunition?
"I've never seen anything like this," House said. "There have been fistfights at gun shows over the last box of ammunition."
Rumors swirl about the shortage.
Yes, it's true that booming metal markets in China and India are consuming boatloads of brass, copper and lead.
No, it's not true that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are cutting into the civilian bullet supply. The Army says most of its small-arms ammo comes from a dedicated factory in Missouri.
Instead, blame politics, and the thoroughness of the Democratic victory in November. Gun owners have long viewed Democrats as enemies of the Second Amendment. With that party now in control of the White House and both branches of Congress: "People think they'd better buy while they can," said Ron Hess, a long time Norfolk gun shop owner. "Gun owners just figure that Democrats make screwed-up gun laws." ...
The Virginia Citizens Defense League is used to fighting for the right to carry guns.
But now it's having to defend the right to wear stickers about carrying guns.
The group says officials at the Richmond Coliseum recently attempted to stop members from handing out blaze-orange "Guns Save Lives" stickers before an appearance by radio and television talk-show host Glenn Beck.
"It's bad enough they're trying to trample the Second Amendment. Then you come and attack the First," President Philip Van Cleave said, referring to the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of the right to bear arms and to free speech.
Dolly Vogt, who manages the Coliseum as a regional general manager for SMG, did not respond to three messages Friday. Van Cleave described the incident and his group's concerns to the City Council on Monday. A city spokesman had no comment but said officials are looking into the matter.
Van Cleave said the confrontation occurred June 6 as guests were arriving to see Beck, a defender of guns-rights and other personal liberties. Group members were handing out stickers when Coliseum officials told them to stop and advised that stickers were banned from the city-owned venue, he said.
"Our people stood their ground, [saying] this is public, this is freedom of speech," Van Cleave said.
Then, Coliseum officials turned their attention to people who were wearing the stickers as they entered the building. "They had to throw the stickers away," he said. "They couldn't hide it."
Van Cleave said most people followed the instructions. He said the incident was particularly disturbing because other stickers were being worn into the show without any apparent objection. [emphasis added]
"I think that kind of speaks for itself," he said. "It was about our sticker." ...
A lawyer for the Reno Gazette-Journal urged the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow public scrutiny of concealed weapons permits, arguing that a district judge’s ruling saying the permitting process should be confidential was in error.
“Nothing in the statute mentions confidentiality for the permit itself,” Scott Glogovac said during arguments on the appeal of Judge Janet Berry’s ruling last year against the newspaper’s request for information about Gov. Jim Gibbons’ permit application.
Deputy District Attorney Nathan Edwards told the justices the statute prohibits public access to applications for concealed weapons and to investigations pertaining to those applications. Once a person is identified on an application, everything that follows must be sealed, he said.
“The statute does not say that information in the application becomes publicly accessible once the applicant becomes a permittee,” Edwards said.
Chief Justice James Hardesty said the court would take the case under advisement and rule later. ...
With congressional Democrats divided on gun issues and the Obama administration steering clear of the topic, gun rights advocates have bagged new legislative trophies this year and are taking aim at additional targets.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and Gun Owners of America have an ambitious to-do list. They are preparing to:
•Weigh in on Obama’s nomination of federal appellate court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
•Advance a proposal by Sen. Richard M. Burr , R-N.C., to ensure that veterans are not wrongfully denied the right to bear arms.
•Stave off attempts to close the so-called gun show loophole.
•Beat back efforts to renew the federal ban on some assault weapons, which lapsed in 2004.
Conversely, Democrats eager for tighter restrictions are facing the harsh political reality that, at least for now, they can’t match the gun lobby’s firepower.
Sen. Barbara Boxer , D-Calif., who favors gun control, predicted that gun rights advocates “would win the vast majority” of the upcoming legislative fights, though Sotomayor’s confirmation does not now look endangered. ...
Democrats are looking down the barrel of a gun as they vie to keep their power in Washington.
Poised after last year's election to push back against the National Rifle Association's heavy firepower, the Democrats have in rapid order conceded ground on the gun issue. They've allowed concealed-carry weapons in national parks, considered easing gun restrictions in the District of Columbia, and turned back a campaign pledge on gun-record transparency.
The moves, which tended to be riders to other bills, have given Republicans a rare sense of success as a minority. They also have the potential to force some Democrats in rural states "into the cross hairs" for the next election cycle by daring them to clarify their views on gun control.
For Democrats, reluctance to take on the gun lobby is tied to a desire to hold onto their majority in Washington as they pursue a progressive agenda on issues ranging from the economy to healthcare. ...
The NYPD really jumped the gun today in announcing the potential for "smart" guns that could prevent friendly-fire shootings.
Police announced this morning that Pacific Northwestern Laboratory was in the early stages of developing weapons with radio transmitters that would alert cops to the presence of a friendly guns.
The problem is that research is not being conducted -- and the lab had planned to break the bad news to the NYPD at a meeting next week.
"Even if we had the funding to try to develop this, we wouldn't," lab spokesman Geoff Harvey.
"There are so many limitations, it's not a good use of technology dollars."
Police brass had hoped the guns -- which would use a radio waves so friendly guns would identify one another -- could help avoid a repeat of the tragic death of Officer Omar Edwards, who was shot by fellow cop Andrew Dunton.
"This is something that is being explored," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told reporters this morning.
But Harvey said the technology would not have prevented the killing -- as the best such a system could do was say if a friendly gun was somewhere within 600 feet.
And it would take up to two seconds for the radio waves to be picked up - making it useless if a decision to shoot has to be made in a split second.
"We're meeting with the NYPD next week and we'll have to tell them [] it just isn't applicable," he said. ...
Erin King squeezed into a packed classroom at Bob's Gun Shop with a new pistol and a mission.
She sat through two hours of instruction and fired off several dozen rounds at the range with her Guardian .32-caliber. The 26-year-old from Suffolk bought her first gun a few weeks ago and plans to get a concealed-carry permit next month.
She'll slip her pistol into a hidden holster and protect herself commuting to her part-time job cleaning offices at night. "I'm responsible for myself," King said.
As the classroom shows, she's not alone.
Driven by safety concerns or political angst, gun sales and applications for concealed-carry permits are booming. ...
The District’s permanent handgun regulations that took effect Friday could be obliterated by Congress or the federal courts in less time than it took to write them.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city’s 30-year-old handgun ban as unconstitutional last June. The city has been operating under emergency and proposed gun rules since Jan. 16., but those rules became permanent Friday.
Despite strong opposition from gun rights advocates, the Metropolitan Police Department reported in Friday’s D.C. Register that no comments were received since January.
District leaders believe they have met the Supreme Court’s directive, that the Second Amendment guarantees D.C. residents the right to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense. But the city’s fledgling laws are being challenged on two fronts. ...
Gov. David A. Paterson's proposal requiring criminal background checks every five years for lifetime pistol permit holders unfairly targets gun owners and places an undue burden on counties, some north country officials say.
"I'm too thinly staffed to keep up with the workload that will come with it," St. Lawrence County Clerk Patricia A. Ritchie said. "We're never going to be able to keep up with it with the system we have. It's going to require more staff, which will result in higher local costs. It's going to be a big burden on the county."
The governor on May 28 announced proposed legislation requiring criminal background checks for gunsmith and gun dealer employees who handle firearms, and background checks every five years for lifetime pistol permit holders as well as whenever a gun owner, gunsmith or gun dealer license is renewed.
It also requires that misdemeanor domestic violence crimes be reported to the national criminal database so that no one convicted of such a crime can have a gun license.
The legislation, according to the governor's press release, "will close gaps in New York law that may allow persons to obtain or retain firearms licenses even though they are barred by federal law from possessing those weapons."
But Jefferson County Undersheriff Timothy M. Dowe said there already are procedures to prevent permit holders from keeping their licenses if they commit crimes. ...
Few places in Virginia are as draining to the soul and as numbing to the buttocks as the branch offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles. And yet, until recently, smiling was still permitted there.
No more. As part of the DMV's effort to develop super-secure driver's licenses and foolproof identification cards, the agency has issued a smile ban, directing customers to adopt a "neutral expression" in their portraits, thereby extinguishing whatever happiness comes with finally hearing one's number called. ...
Until Congress closes a loophole that makes it easy for criminals to buy firearms at gun shows, Virginia and other states must work to tighten their own laws, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Monday.
Mr. Bloomberg joined family members of Virginia Tech massacre victims in Northern Virginia to unveil a new television ad that will begin airing Tuesday. It calls on the state to end a practice allowing what are called "occasional sellers" at gun shows to sell weapons without conducting background checks.
"Many of the guns bought here are then resold to criminals and used in violent crimes across the country," Mr. Bloomberg said. "In fact, nationally ... gun-crime guns are more likely to come from Virginia than from all but five other states, and we know that all too well in New York City." [emphasis added] ...
Days before the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, a group backed by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg plans to launch a television advertisement that questions Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell's opposition to closing a loophole in state law that allows some private vendors at gun shows to make sales without background checks.
The 30-second commercial, expected to run statewide on cable and broadcast TV for four days starting today, ends with an image of one of the victims of the 2007 campus massacre: Reema Samaha is shown dancing as a child as a phone number for McDonnell appears on-screen.
"I know that closing the loophole won't bring Reema back, but the question is: Whose sister is next?" Omar Samaha, Reema's brother, asks in the ad. "Ask Bob McDonnell why he's protecting criminals instead of protecting us." ...
... Then, like floundering rookies, Holder and Pelosi were benched, and the “old pro” has now come into the game. I think we can safely bet that Feinstein will remain Obama’s Quisling Quarterback of Choice for the duration of his fumbling stay in office.(Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian politician who helped the Nazis conquer his nation. A “Quisling” is another word for traitor.)
And Dianne has certainly taken charge with an arrogance and egotism that is truly stunning. In a recent interview with Leslie Stahl on “Sixty Minutes” she made some remarkable pronouncements. (See "60 Minutes" article)
Asked of her plans for more “gun control” legislation, she told Stahl: “I’ll pick the time and place.”
Oh yes, Your Highness! Please do exercise your Divine Right to befoul our freedom even further! Do so whenever your tea leaves and chicken entrails so instruct you!
I wonder how quacking Carolyn McCarthy, smirky Chuckie Schumer, and sob sister Sarah Brady feel about Dianne acting like she’s the new leader of the Gun Ban Band?
Feinstein then went on to declare that: “The National Rifle Association essentially has a stranglehold on the Congress.” ...
... Obama and the Democrats appear to have lost all interest in a ban on assault weapons or any other legislation cleaning up loopholes in America's gun laws even though killings are on the rise and gun violence continues to escalate around the country.
White House officials admit support for a new ban isn't there and the President isn't willing to take on another losing battle with Congress.
Although information on banning assault style weapons remains on the White House web site, sources within the Democratic party say the issue is dead and unlikely to be revived in the near future.
"It's over," a Democrat strategist admits. "The gun nuts have won...again." ...
Eight Valley residents have been indicted on charges of planning to transport five semi-automatic weapons into Mexico, according to court documents released Monday.
U.S. District Court documents filed March 31 state that the group, which includes four Mesa residents and others from Surprise, Avondale and Mexico, used false paperwork to purchase firearms from two Glendale gun stores and one in Scottsdale.
The indictment named Saul Rodriguez, 24, of Mesa; Jesus Gutierrez, 46, of Avondale; and Olegario Gutierrez-Martinez, 30, of Mexico; all of whom face charges of conspiracy to export munitions, conspiracy to illegally smuggle goods from the U.S. and conspiracy to make false statements in acquisition of firearms. ...
... Joseph Tierney, owner of the Mohawk Sport Shop LLC at 716 Erie Blvd. in Rome, said he doesn’t think the Binghamton tragedy sparked an interest in pistols or hand guns.
He says his business has been good across the board and that he’s been getting an increased number of customers interested in assault weapons.
“It’s the assault weapons, AR-15 and AK-47, they seem to want,” he said. “I can’t get them right now because there’s such a high demand everywhere in the country they’re in demand. “It’s difficult for even the dealers to get. I currently don’t have any. In the last two weeks, I’ve turned down a minimum of 30 people wanting them.”
At larger retailers such as Gander Mountain, gun sales have been going up as well.
“I can tell you, in general, for the last six to eight months the sales of firearms and ammunition have been brisk,” said David Ewald spokesman for Gander Mountain which is based in St. Paul, Minn. “There’s been all sorts of speculation on what’s the driving force. I think a little bit of everything is driving it.” ...
It seems as if every liberal in Texas is up in arms over the issue of concealed carry on campus.Liberals' reasons seem to be endless, but the one most often echoed by the masses is how dangerous it would be for students to be allowed to carry handguns.
Apparently, once a student is in possession of a legal weapon he will become a crazed killer, out to shoot anyone who disagrees with him. A concealed carry law will mean the end of safe campuses and it is likely that colleges across Texas will turn into war zones between rival students. Greeks vs. GDIs, whites vs. blacks, athletes vs. nerds; all will be armed and killing one another.
The fact that guns would make every college campus more dangerous is a great reason to keep guns off campus. However, it is far from the truth.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety arrest data from 1996 to 1999, .128 percent of concealed handgun license (CHL) holders were arrested for violent crime, .004 percent for murder, and there was not a single arrest of a CHL holder for negligent manslaughter. According to the same data .683 percent of Texans over 21 were arrested for a violent crime, .005 percent for murder, and .001 percent for negligent manslaughter.
These figures represent only arrests and therefore do not take into account the fact that some CHL holders may be arrested for a crime, such as killing someone in self-defense, and later cleared of the charges, so the actual conviction rate could be even lower than what is shown by the data.
According to this data, the average Texan is more likely to be responsible for a murder or negligent manslaughter than a CHL holder. You are more likely to be killed in an automobile accident (1 in 6,500), struck by lightning (1 in 500,000), or even killed by a falling airplane part (1 in 9.3 million) than you are to be killed by a CHL holder (1 in 10.2 million).
This means that the average Texan is 20 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be murdered or negligently killed by a Texas CHL holder.
...
My father was a student at the University of Texas when Charles Whitman climbed the UT Tower and began shooting at students, killing 14 and wounding 32, and his memory of the event is of seeing students and other civilians get their deer rifles out of their trucks and return fire at Whitman, keeping him pinned down and unable to kill more people than he did. ...
The identities of people with permits to carry concealed handguns or stow them in their cars may soon be a secret in Alabama.
A bill supported by the National Rifle Association would seal the handgun permits maintained by county sheriffs and make them available only to law enforcement officers. The public would have access to individual records only if the gun owner had committed a felony.
The sponsor of the proposed legislation, Rep. Jack Page, D-Gadsden, said the purpose is to prevent theft of the identity of gun owners. Showing his own permit to a news reporter, Page said gun permits contain enough private information, such as date of birth and eye and hair color, to help someone apply for a credit card or other documents in another person's name.
"That's sensitive information," Page said. ...
Allowing guns in company parking lots.
One Idaho lawmaker is hoping more companies will allow it, and Monday the majority of lawmakers from the Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill that would do just that.
They're hoping to give companies immunity to any lawsuits, which involve their employees Second Amendment rights.
For a lot of people guns are a way of life. And now one lawmaker is trying to make a little easier on gun owners, many who often have a firearm in the car or truck.
"All this bill does is allow people to store their weapons in their personal vehicle on company property. That's all it does," said Rep. Jeff Thompson, (R-Idaho Falls). ...
Sportsmen may be preoccupied with trout and the upcoming spring turkey hunting season right now, but in a couple of weeks the New York State Assembly will be voting on a dozen or more gun bills that will have a lasting effect on everyone who owns or would like to purchase a firearm for self-protection, target shooting, hunting and — as strange as it may seem — trapping and fishing.
Why trapping and fishing you ask? Because a number of trappers and anglers carry a sidearm to prevent attacks from coyotes, black bears or any other wild animal — rabid or otherwise — that might take exception to them entering their bailiwick.
But regardless of the purpose you choose to own a firearm, excessive gun control will take center stage at the New York State Capitol on April 29 when the assembly debates and votes on a package of anti-gun bills.
Commonly referred to as “Gun Bill Day”, it always conspicuously coincide with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) “Albany Lobby Day” — a day when anti-gun zealots demonstrate in the lobby of the state Legislative Office Building (LOB), eventually taking their misguided convictions directly to state lawmakers — not that they need to.
It’s no secret that the vast majority of New York lawmakers want to remove guns from the hands of legitimate gun owners. The fact that every anti-gun bill introduced in the state Assembly during the past three decades has passed is testimony to that. And, up until this year, each was stalled by a Republican majority in the state Senate.
But the Republicans no longer rule the roost and there is an excellent chance that this year the anti-gun lobby will be successful, especially with the rash of gun-related shootings in Binghamton and other cities. [emphasis added] ...
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." ...
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. ...
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.
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"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. ...
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]...
... 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. ...
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." ...
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.
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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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
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.
When Tim Kaine campaigned for Virginia governor in 2005, he ran an ad implying that former National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston was praising him. His campaign claimed that "Tim Kaine strongly supports the Second Amendment." Once he won office, Mr. Kaine vetoed one gun bill after another that would have helped Virginians protect themselves from criminals.
Unfortunately, this past week, Mr. "strong Second Amendment supporter" Kaine vetoed all five pro-self-defense bills sent to his desk. His intransigence endangers public safety. Hopefully, the General Assembly's veto-override session, which starts today, can correct those mistakes.
All five vetoed bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support - indeed, all but one bill got at least two-thirds support in both the Senate and the House. The governor knows he can be easily overriden. Showing how out-of-touch he is on this issue, Mr. Kaine vetoed some bills that even passed unanimously. So overrides seem likely unless Mr. Kaine can flip enough Democrats to sustain his vetoes.
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Mr. Kaine's veto of the bill to let law-abiding citizens with concealed-handgun permits in restaurants is just as mistaken. There are obvious benefits from letting people protect themselves and others, and with all the experience from other states, there is no evidence that there are any risks.
Mr. Kaine's vetoes of the other bills make no more sense. The House unanimously passed a bill that lets concealed-handgun permit holders take their safety course online, and 75 percent of the Senate also voted for the bill. Virginia lets driver-safety courses be taken over the Internet. Even if the governor doesn't get it yet, the General Assembly at least seems to understand that we live in the age of computers.
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Mr. Kaine is more than just out of step with Virginians on public safety. The governor's facts-be-damned attitude worries us. Evidence should matter to public servants. We hope the legislators stick to their guns, resist the governor's pressure and override all five of Mr. Kaine's vetoes.
Here's a summary for the time- or attention-challenged: Never surrender freedom for laws that can't affect criminals; they disobey laws for a living.
Nobody is surprised that Attorney General Eric Holder wants to make good on his promise to ban guns. We just didn't know whose tragedy he'd seize to advance his agenda.
Now we do. It's the drug-driven death and violence in Mexico at the hands of ruthless criminal cartels.
Barely a month on the job, Holder cited the Mexican cartel killings as the excuse to resurrect the Clinton gun ban.
Though a new face to some, Holder is a rabid Second Amendment foe from the Clinton administration who helped orchestrate the 1994 Clinton gun ban.
America has made this mistake already. So let's learn the lies that led to their gun ban.
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Nobody can substantiate claims that U.S. guns cross the border "by the thousands" or "account for 95% of weapons used by Mexican drug gangs." Because it's not true.
Replying to Feinstein in subcommittee hearings last week, William Hoover, assistant director of field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said, "The investigations we have, that we see, for firearms flowing across the border don't show us individuals taking thousands of guns a day or at a time flowing into Mexico."
Yet reporter after politician after news anchor parrot the lie as readily as high schoolers gossip, and with equal disregard for truth.
That's how gun abolitionists claim Mexican gun laws are so strict that our "weak laws" (read: freedoms) are to blame for "fueling the violence" in Mexico.
Well, to believe that:
• You have to believe these butchers and beheaders break every Mexican law they want except Mexican gun laws, which they honor -- while they break America gun laws.
• You have to believe that Mexico's drug cartels, which possess the wealth and armies of nations, prefer American semiauto target and hunting rifles over fully automatic machine guns and any other military arms they want to crush opposition.
• You have to believe Mexican drug lords -- who make Forbes magazine's list of billionaires -- don't get large lots of weaponry on the transnational black market but instead choose to trifle with paperwork at U.S. gun stores.
• You have to believe that narco-terrorists who buy fragmentation grenades, grenade launchers, explosives, body armor, biometric security equipment, infrared surveillance technology and intelligence-grade reconnaissance gear will salute and obey a new American gun law -- if only we'd pass one.
The state, Mexican authorities and their US propaganda arm, known in most circles as the Mainstream Media, have recently embarked on a huge disinformation campaign to demonize the American gun owner as the supplier of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels. Everyone in the media, with the possible exception of Lou Dobbs, has joined in the campaign of lies.
Shown here, on a CBS special, is video proof of the lies and disinformation by CBS, US and Mexican authorities. Anderson Cooper and Janet Napolitano are either ignorant or complicit in the myth that M-203s, RPGs and hand grenades are readily available to the American gun consumer. Most intelligent folks, and those without a state sponsored agenda, realize these weapons are usually only available to the military.
This week, Secretary of Homeland Defense, Janet Napolitano, announced a new plan to curb the alleged flow of weapons from the US into Mexico. This program, which will cost the overwhelmed US Taxpayer another 700 million dollars plus, includes machines that employ what is referred to as "virtual strip search." This plan will supposedly slow down the number of guns traveling south from the US to the drug cartels in Mexico. If this program has the same success rate as the government’s efforts at stopping the flow of contraband north into the US, the Mexican drug cartels will have nuclear weapons by the end of April! ...
After fierce resistance from the gun lobby and its allies in Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder has dialed back talk about reimposing a federal assault weapons ban to help curb the spiraling violence in Mexico.
As much as 90 percent of the assault weapons and other guns used by Mexican drug cartels are coming from the United States, fueling drug-related violence that is believed to have killed more than 7,000 people since January 2008, according to estimates by Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials. But the political obstacles to addressing the U.S.-to-Mexico weapons flow are dramatically underscored by Holder's experience in just the last few weeks.
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When Holder was asked about the assault weapons issue again at another press conference on March 25, he steered away from even mentioning a new weapons ban. "Well, I mean, I think what we're going to do is try to, obviously, enforce the laws that we have on the books," Holder said, adding that he planned to discuss the flow of illegal arms with "our Mexican counterparts" during an upcoming trip to Mexico.
Holder's about-face was no accident. White House officials instructed the attorney general to tone down any further talk about assault weapons in order not to complicate the president's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill, according to administration and congressional sources who, like others quoted in this story, asked not to be named talking about internal deliberations. (An assault weapons ban was also conspicuously off the table when the Obama administraton unveiled new proposals to combat Mexican cartel violence.) "We've been told to lay low," a Democratic congressional aide said he was told when he raised the issue of a new assault weapons ban with a Justice Department official. [emphasis in original] ...
SPRINGFIELD — For the second time in a year, an attempt to toughen state gun laws fell short of passage in the Illinois House.
The proposal, which failed on a 55-60 vote Wednesday, aims to close the so-called private-sale loophole.
Under state law, people buying firearms from private sellers at gun shows must undergo a background check.
But, other private handgun sales are not subject to background checks. Supporters say current law allows guns to get into the hands of criminals who would otherwise not be able to buy firearms.
HB1623 The Concealed Carry Privacy bill had a partial hearing today. If you followed us on Twitter you know that the hearing abruptly ended because the full Senate was about to convene. The bill will be reconsidered Tuesday the 31st.
We feel good about the bill in the committee but David Bailey, Managing Editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and member of the Arkansas Press Association (APA) wasted no time in hyping the supposed "dangers" of the bill. I guess he doesn't consider violating the privacy of an undercover police officer "dangerous."He mostly brought up issues centered around people who applied for CHL's in our state and been denied a permit. Which actually makes our case for us that, the system works.
They claim that they should have access to the information as a matter of a check against the government. But then we distributed the original blog post that Max wrote which contained the permit list and it pretty much dashed the idea that it was done in an ethical, journalistic manner. When committee members saw the blog posting, their reaction seemed to be one of amazement.
The latest development is that Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe finally picked a side, I am sad to say that it was not the side of law abiding gun owners.
This from Today's THV, "Gov. Mike Beebe says he prefers to keep the list of Arkansans licensed to carry concealed handguns public, but he stopped short of saying he'd veto a bill to make that information secret.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Beebe said that he prefers to keep the list open under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Beebe would not say he would reject a bill by Rep. Randy Stewart, a Democrat from Kirby, to seal that information from public scrutiny.
The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee heard some testimony Thursday on Stewart's proposal, but did not take any action. The committee plans to continue a hearing on the bill next week. The bill has already passed the House."
If you remember this bill overwhelmingly passed the House by a vote of 98 to 1. The bill clearly has a mandate from the citizens of this state. ...
Gov. Mike Rounds has signed a bill that eliminates South Dakota's post-purchase 48-hour waiting period to buy a handgun.
The House passed the bill 67-1 on Tuesday. The Senate had passed it unanimously in January.
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Currently, only those with a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon in South Dakota are exempt from the waiting period. The new law will mean that anyone who wants to buy a handgun and passes the federal check can walk out of a licensed dealer's shop with the weapon. ...
"Law enforcement trainer, author, and grassroots activist of color" (and not to forget, a pastor), Kenn Blanchard has been a voice of reason in the Second Amendment movement since the early Nineties.
His book, "Black Man with a Gun," was written "to provide people in the African American Diaspora a resource to learn about gun safety and personal responsibility from one of their own."
A founder of the Tenth Cavalry Gun Club, "derived from the famous 9th and 10th Army Horse Cavalry's, better known for their Native American given name 'Buffalo Soldiers,'" Blanchard has also started The Urban Shooter Association to promote and support his weekly podcast.
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DC: Why are so many African American political and religious leaders dead set against keeping and bearing arms? How does that tie in with other parts of their message?
KB: It is easy. There are few topics that are as “evergreen” as gun control. Leaders and clergy that adopt the anti-gun stance have an easier role. The path of least resistance is favored over a deeper dive into the truth. Do you tell the children that there is no Santa Claus coming down the chimney or do you keep up the illusion till they figure it out?
Secondly, if they ride the anti-gun fence long enough they will up their status and be afforded personal protection, bodyguards and a lifestyle where they won’t need to protect themselves. They become pastors with entourages. Politicians get police protection. Celebrities with bodyguards don’t need to carry a firearm for their home. They have gated communities and things we can’t afford.
And lastly, some are in the habit of influencing people so much that they believe we are incapable of controlling our impulses -- that we are not thinking humans but lesser animals that need to be controlled. It’s a superiority piece; that is just plain wrong. ...
... The governor also rejected bills that would have loosened the state's gun regulations. Among them:
Senate Bill 1035 would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons into restaurants or clubs that serve alcoholic beverages. Guns are allowed into restaurants as long as they are displayed openly, under current state law.
"Allowing concealed weapons into restaurants and bars that serve alcohol puts the public, the employees and our public safety officers at risk," Mr. Kaine said. "I take seriously the objections of law enforcement to this measure."
House Bill 2528 would have prohibited local law enforcement agencies from choosing to conduct voluntary gun buyback programs and then destroying the weapons.
Senate Bill 1528 would have allowed the firearms training required to receive a concealed weapons permit to be completed online.
"Allowing the testing to be done online would weaken the ability of the commonwealth to determine who is actually taking the test and open up opportunities for individuals to receive a permit under fraudulent circumstances with no guarantee that they can use a weapon safely," Mr. Kaine said.
House Bill 1851 would have created a new exemption to Virginias one-handgun-a-month law that would include active-duty service members whether Virginia residents or not. ...
Just as anti-gunners accused the Bush administration of working with the gun rights organizations, is the Obama administration coordinating with the gun prohibition lobby in an effort to boost public pressure to revive the ban on so-called “assault weapons?”
There is growing suspicion in the firearms community that it is no coincidence the administration is ramping up the rhetoric about this country’s “shared responsibility” for the bloody drug war raging in northern Mexico, while “Obama-friendly” news organizations lend emphasis to renewing the semi-auto ban. At the same time, the anti-gun Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has just released a report called Exporting Violence: How Our Weak Gun Laws Arm Criminals in Mexico and America.
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was busy in Mexico acknowledging that demand for drugs in this country was part of the problem, and she is right. Too many Americans use illegal drugs. However, she also quickly complained about our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals
But when she was quizzed by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on the drug war, Mitchell seemed rather preoccupied with renewal of the gun ban in this country, a ban which has had questionable results, as I reported here. Other news agencies have editorialized for renewal of the ban.
If Mitchell wants to lobby for a gun law, she needs to drop the pretense of being a reporter, and sign up as a lobbyist. ...
All you have to do is take one look at the recent headlines and you'd think the U.S. has been tried, convicted, and sentenced for causing drug war violence in Mexico.
All this is intended to raise public support for bringing back the expired "assault weapons ban." The thing is, the public isn't buying what they're selling.
A recent Zogby poll and O'Leary Report show that only 13.5% of those surveyed think the United States is to blame. It is pretty easy to come to that conclusion since the war south of the border is being fought with machine guns, rocket propelled grenades, and other similar weapons that just aren't available at gun shows. Why would a drug cartel buy a semi-automatic rifle (the kind the legislation Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants would ban) when they can just as easily get fully automatic weapons illegally on the black market? It just doesn't add up, and the American public isn't as stupid as they're being taken for.
"Blame America" seems to be the motto of the current administration. Keep it up and they just might chant themselves out of office just like the majority of people who signed the original AWB did back in 1994. But it must be our fault, right? Why else would Clinton pledge $80 million to buy Black Hawk helicopters to give to the Mexican government? Better to spend the money there than to fix a bridge, right? We have to atone for our mistakes, don't we? Right. ...
... In addition to committing additional law-enforcement assets to the border, the U.S. is also providing Mexican authorities with intelligence, high-tech detection gear, sophisticated sensors and night-vision equipment for combating cartel “foot soldiers” armed with automatic weapons, hand grenades, heavy machine guns and soviet-era rocket propelled grenade launchers. This help is certainly warranted. It is in our national interest that the Calderon campaign against the cartels succeeds.
Unfortunately, the O-Team and their “progressive” allies in Congress aren’t satisfied with the progress that is being made thus far. They apparently intend to use the “Cartel Crisis,” as Mr. Emanuel has advocated, “to do things you couldn’t do before.”
On February 25, Attorney General Eric Holder urged the U.S. “to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons. I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.” The following day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said, “I am prepared to wage the assault weapons battle again and intend to do so.” And on March 17, during a Senate subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) claimed that an “iron river of guns from the United States arms Mexican drug cartels to the teeth.”
Reality check: resurrecting the so-called “Assault Weapons Ban” that expired in 2004 isn’t going to do anything to help the Mexican government deal with drug cartels or any other criminal organizations. Nor was the O-Team’s decision to stop the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) from allowing surplus military brass cartridges to be re-loaded going to stop a single bullet from reaching criminals. Thankfully, that inane rule has been reversed, saving law-abiding gun owners -- and our heavily indebted government -- money.
The Mexican drug cartels aren’t being armed by law-abiding Americans. Rather than trying to re-enact meaningless legislation based on the appearance of a firearm or the shape of a magazine, the O-Team and their congressional allies need to focus on securing our borders and providing the resources to enforce the laws we already have on the books. Infringing on the 2nd Amendment rights of U.S. citizens won’t make Mexicans, or any of us, any safer or more secure -- no matter how severe the crisis.
One week after four Oakland police officers were gunned down by a semi-automatic weapon, there's a new plan asking the federal government to ban assault weapons. State and local officials are pushing for a crackdown on these weapons.
An AK-47 assault rifle was used to kill the four Oakland police officers last Saturday. California has the toughest ban on assault weapons in the nation. But it doesn't stop people from buying in other states.
"We're calling on the Congress to remake gun control a top priority now, and to reauthorize the assault weapons ban right away," said L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
During his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama supported reinstating the federal ban that expired in 2004. In Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported a renewal of the ban. ...
In 1994, Sen. Dianne Feinstein used the tragedy of San Francisco's 101 California massacre to push a decadelong ban on assault weapons through Congress. But even the horror of Saturday's slayings of four Oakland police officers is unlikely to break through the bipartisan opposition that blocked the renewal of that ban in 2004.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and dozens of House Democrats have said they oppose efforts to bring back the national ban, either because the timing is wrong or because they oppose gun control.
Pelosi said she hasn't even discussed the possibility of a renewal with President Obama and his staff, who face urgent issues from fixes to the nation's economy to health care reform.
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"I am prepared to wage the assault weapons battle again and I intend to do so," Feinstein said in a speech to the Senate last month. "I have been quiet about this because there are many other pressing needs of this nation. But with the help of the president, the administration and the people of this great country, we do need to fight back."
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Feinstein has support in high places. During last fall's campaign, Obama said he wanted to reinstate the ban, and last month Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged that it remains part of the administration's agenda.
"I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum," Holder said in a Feb. 25 news conference in Phoenix. ...
HELENA – A compromise on a bill aimed at expanding gun rights and getting rid of the need for concealed weapons permits is advancing in the state Senate.
House Bill 228 has been the subject of a tough fight between police groups and gun groups such as the National Rifle Association. But the interest groups sat down again with lawmakers Friday morning to hammer out some details the legislation.
The compromise still allows people to use a gun in self-defense without first fleeing. Sen. Dan McGee, the Billings Republican leading a legislative subcommittee making the changes, said that is means people can more easily use deadly force on home intruders.
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The Senate compromise version would still exempt people from the requirement of a permit for carrying a concealed weapon in town — although it now clarifies that felons could not do so. It would also keep the current permitting system in place for those who voluntarily want one in order to carry a gun in other states that recognize Montana's permits.
A provision that would allow people to brandish a gun if they feel threatened is being modified at the request of police, who say it would be dangerous to have citizens try to defuse conflicts by pointing guns at each other. ...
After Columbine, Colorado voters approved a measure requiring background checks on all gun-show sales.
But as the 10th anniversary of the high school massacre approaches, lawmakers are considering a bill that would waive the checks for anyone holding a concealed-carry permit.
Police chiefs and sheriffs are among those who testified against the measure, which is scheduled to be heard by the full Senate next week.
Among law enforcement concerns: Colorado does not have a standard concealed-carry permit or a centralized database with information on whether a permit is still valid. ...
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul, a long-time opponent to gun rights in Ohio, has tendered his resignation after months of allegations about his misconduct in office.
McFaul has been under fire since the beginning of the year over questions of improper fund-raising activities, including having deputies sell tickets for his fund-raisers while on county time, for doing special favors for friends and relatives, and most recently for not reporting gifts he is reported to have accepted from employees.
The anti-gun Sheriff has long-been an anathema to Ohio gun owners. In 2004, McFaul had to be sued by Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine before he would do his job and begin issuing Ohio concealed handgun licenses. He eventually settled the suit, and paid all court costs and attorney's fees (with taxpayer funds, of course). ...
A Loudoun County couple out for their routine early-morning walk over the weekend might have been randomly attacked by as many as three assailants in the Lansdowne area, the county sheriff said yesterday.
William Bennett, 57, was found dead before 6 a.m. Sunday along Riverside Parkway near Rocky Creek Drive by a sheriff's deputy investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area. His wife, Cynthia, 55, was found critically injured about 30 minutes later across the road, beyond a bloodied white fence in a muddy ditch, Simpson said.
"It has the look and feel of a random act," Simpson said. "I'm not sure how much you do to prepare for that. . . . Everybody has the same thought on their mind: 'See, that could have been me.' "
The Bennetts live in the Potomac Station subdivision in the Leesburg area, less than a mile from where they were found, Simpson said. They suffered severe blunt force trauma, but the medical examiner has not yet provided an official cause of death for the husband, Simpson said.
At 5:38 a.m. Sunday, a resident reported hearing a commotion and seeing several people get inside a white panel van that kept coming and going, authorities said. A deputy responded within five minutes and discovered the man's body on a grassy patch along Riverside Parkway, near a walking path that leads to Goose Creek, Simpson said.
Authorities combed the area, and, as the sun came up, investigators noticed blood across the street on a white fence that lines the road, Simpson said.
It was then that Cynthia Bennett was discovered about 50 yards away in a ditch. She was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital and was in critical condition yesterday. Investigators have not been able to talk to her, Simpson said. The couple were wearing jogging outfits when they were found.
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Authorities were able to identify William Bennett, who carried no identification, by his fingerprint, which was on file because he has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, Simpson said. The couple have two adult children, he said. [emphasis added] ...
... Simpson said investigators are also trying to determine whether the retired lieutenant colonel with the Army Special Forces has held any jobs since leaving the CIA.
Bennett and his wife, residents of nearby Potomac Station, were on their routine early morning walk in the Lansdowne area when they were attacked by as many as three assailants, authorities said.
A sheriff's deputy responding to a report of a commotion and a suspicious white panel van about 5:30 a.m. in the Lansdowne area discovered William Bennett's body on the side of Riverside Parkway, near a gravel path not far from Rocky Creek Drive. His wife was found about 30 minutes later in a ditch, beyond a bloodied white fence across the street. Both had suffered blunt force trauma, but no weapon was recovered, and they might have been beaten.
Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the Bennetts were assaulted somewhere else and dumped there. ...
Bennett's slaying is the first homicide this year in Loudoun, where killings usually register in the low single digits annually. The sheriff's office investigated three homicides last year, up from one in 2007. Authorities described the Lansdowne area as fairly quiet and said crime there is generally limited to "quality of life" issues such as property destruction and car theft.
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) -- Liberty University will remain gun-free, trustees at the Baptist school founded by the late Jerry Falwell decided March 3.
Last year, Liberty's chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus asked university officials to change the school's firearm policies to allow people with concealed-handgun permits to carry weapons on campus.
"Liberty University prides itself in not adhering to 'political correctness' and is obligated to consider the facts instead of simply adhering to politically popular policies," the group appealed in an online petition.
The petition said current rules banning firearms on campus "only deter the honorable" and that anyone intending to commit violence "would have no concern for breaking a university rule." ...
... Buckeye Firearms Association has now received word from ODOT Assistant Legal Counsel Heather Sullivan that "the districts have reported all of the signs are down", and in fact that the last signs were removed earlier today.
While this process took longer than ODOT's original estimate of 30 days, we are pleased to be able to report that these state facilities should now be in full compliance with state law. ...
... The duo, award-winning shooters for San Diego High School's air-rifle team, are relieved that the school board will allow them to compete through the end of the school year, rather than immediately putting an end to all campus marksmanship training. But happy? Not really.
“Just a little bit,” said Monica, 16.
The teammates are part of the district's Junior ROTC marksmanship program, which the board eliminated two weeks ago in response to criticism that air rifles, like other guns, shouldn't be tolerated on campuses.
The students and coaches who participate in the program say the activity has been unfairly maligned by critics who associate it with school and street violence. ...
I wonder what these constituents would say if they were provided the truth about the racist origins and continued discriminatory application of the gun control measures you promulgate? Have you told them about the Slave Codes, that would allow a black man to be whipped (or worse) for possession of any kind of weapon? Or the post-Civil War Black Codes, designed to keep the newly emancipated from obtaining the means of defense during the heyday of Klan terror?
Why don't you circulate the following Louisiana statute among a few of the churches that you get your precinct walkers from, and see what they have to say?"No negro who is not in the military service shall be allowed to carry fire-arms, or any kind of weapons, within the parish, without the special written permission of his employers, approved and endorsed by the nearest and most convenient chief of patrol."...
Tell them how racist Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney concluded that blacks, as legal scholar and civil rights attorney Professor Don B. Kates has recorded, "could not be ‘citizens,' because if they were, they would have the right to vote, to assemble, to speak on political subjects, to travel freely, and ‘to keep and carry arms wherever they went.'" ...
A large part of the reason most folks decide to carry a gun is personal protection. After that, they want to protect their family. Beyond that, they would really have to evaluate the situation before they would intervene. Did you know that by carrying a gun you help strangers everyday? Economists call it the substitution effect. When the possible number of people carrying a gun goes up, the criminals can't know who is carrying and who isn't. They sense that their job risk has gone up and they shift from confrontational crimes like robbery, murder, and rape to safer ones like car theft and burglary. They substitute one crime for another to increase their safety. Another form of substitution is going to a place where they know gun laws are tighter, and they are more confident that they won't run into a gun. Surveys of criminals behind bars indicate that they fear a civilian with a gun more than they fear a policeman with a gun. ...
House Bill 1623 came up for a House vote this morning and was passed almost unanimously, 98-1 and one no show. Rep. Lindsley Smith was the only "no" vote, the same one that voted against it in Committee.
This is an overwhelming majority and should tell others that the House believes that the names of concealed carry permit holders have a reasonable expectation of privacy and irresponsible publication's "right to know" ends where our right to privacy begins.
Now the Bill will go to the Senate Judiciary Committee. ...
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said today he would veto legislation passed by the General Assembly yesterday that would allow holders of concealed weapons permits to bring their hidden guns into establishments that serve alcohol. “I’m very nervous about the public safety impact of that bill,“ the governor said on his monthly call-in radio show on WRVA in Richmond.
HARRISONBURG, Va., Feb. 14 -- Kyle Smith agreed to play the bad guy.
In a scenario eerily designed to imitate the Virginia Tech massacre, when a lone gunman shot and killed 32 people in the nine minutes it took for campus police to respond, Smith burst into a classroom here Saturday, his right index finger pointed as if it were a gun drawn, and immediately "shot" the teacher between the eyes.
"You people treated me wrong," the freshman yelled, a little sheepishly. "I just can't take it anymore."
As the four students in the room screamed, hit the floor and crouched under desks, he methodically fired five more shots with his finger and "killed" them all. In 23 seconds, it was over.
"You're all dead," Shawn Deehan, a gun rights advocate from GunRightsWeek.org, told the jeans-clad James Madison University students crumpled on the floor and waiting for his cue that the reenactment was over. "A great rate of response from law enforcement is six minutes. Six minutes. If you don't care if you live or die, that's a suitable response. But if you're concerned about living another day, another minute, then that's too long." ...
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