Volume 6, No. 11                   www.foac-pac.org                   November 4, 2006

 

Firearms Owners Against Crime

 

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves in all cases to which they think themselves competent, or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press." -- Thomas Jefferson (letter to John Cartwright, 1824) Reference: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Lipscomb and Bergh, eds., 16:45.

 

E-Newsletter & FOAC Meeting Notice For November 5, 2006

 

Meeting Agenda-

 

 

Special Guest Speakers:

    None

7.0   Treasurers Report

7.1     Presentation of the October 2006 Report (Tabled until next meeting)

8.0   Old Business

8.1              8.1              None

9.0  New Business

9.1              9.1              Final election preparations and activities - Kim, Herb, Dennis and Mary

9.2              9.2              Final door to door activity and update on FOAC mailings – Herb Ohliger

9.3              9.3              New Legislation Update & Gun Control Issues Statewide & Federal – Kim Stolfer

9.3.1        9.3.1        HB 2536 – End Gun Registration – No Action Likely

9.3.2        9.3.2        SB 1156 – End Gun Registration – No Action Likely

9.3.3        9.3.3        HB 2563 – Hunters & CCW (Passed 189-8) – Action Likely

9.3.4        9.3.4        HB 2231 – Castle Doctrine – No Action Likely

9.3.5        9.3.5        HB 1181 – PA Employees & CCW – No Action Likely

9.3.6        9.3.6        HB 544 – Election Code Changes – No Action Likely

9.4              9.4              Finalize 2007 Meeting Schedule - Kim Stolfer

 

For more information on FOAC efforts to ‘Protect YOUR Rights’, THE MOST CURRENT VOTER’S GUIDES, donating to or becoming a member of FOAC please click on this link: http://www.foac-pac.org/

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

1. ELECTION DAY – November 7th

 

**Last Minute Election Assistance Needed **

Congresswoman Melissa Hart- Get out the voter efforts and other grassroots efforts.  Please call Kim Kuhn at (724) 779-4750.

Congressman Don Sherwood- Election Day support activities and voter motivation efforts.  Please call Barb or Lance at (570) 674-1550

 

Election Update

 

     This election has been the most frustrating and difficult election in our collective experience.  Before you decide that this is intentional over zealous hype and continue to believe that ‘they’re ALL this way’ please give some thought to the fact that on December 7th 1941, many started their day thinking the same thing!

     My reasons for stating the above are many but the greatest is exemplified by the frustration of dealing with so many campaigns that, due to the anti-incumbency attitude of voter’s, have adopted what fans of NFL football will recognize as the “prevent defense”.  This is where you try to run out the clock in close situations and hope nothing bad happens (which it almost ALWAYS does anyway)!

     In addition we have an anti-gun Governor who is the ‘original’ architect of the infamous pay raise (Knock, Knock, HELLO Russ Diamond—where are you?) who is being given a pass by the media for this and all of his failed promises.

     The fact of the matter is that many pro-gun incumbents are in trouble and their challengers are either indifferent or openly hostile.  PLEASE remember that no matter what you hear you need to put all of your efforts into getting to the polls and voting AND making sure that everyone you know, family, friends and fellow gun owners do the same!  DON’T listen to the polls and DON’T listen to some talking head on the news OR in the papers!  Some races are forecast to be decided by as little as 50 votes or less so PLEASE just go out and vote!!!!!!

 

Is It YOUR Decision on Candidates & Issues-OR the MEDIA’s?

 

It was not so long ago that IF one inferred that voter’s were being brainwashed by intentional efforts to push them into specific acts on election day that the individual would have been relegated to the tin foil hat brigade.  NO LONGER IS THAT TRUE!

As advocates for our freedoms and gun owners we are acutely aware of the science out there that backs up our concerns that over publicizing the violence in our society actually cultivates further violence, especially in our schools.  In addition, this is why we rarely see positive stories about gun ownership and their use in the media.  For the same reason commercials are effective in promoting products and services, the constant drum beat of negativity on all aspects of firearms ownership is focused on diminishing the public’s desire to own firearms for self defense and sporting uses.

Now comes an article that reinforces the power of the negative campaign ads, which has enormous potential to cross many spectrums of thought and issues.  Excerpted below from the original article are some of the finer points from an AP article (the link below it will take you to the full article) about just how ALL those negative political campaign ads (that we ALL hate) affect the public and our election process.

 

Scientists Track Effects Of Negative Ads

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Fri Nov 3, 6:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The grainy black-and-white images appear on television, while ominous music plays in the background. It's another in a blizzard of negative political ads and before you consciously know it, the message takes hold of your brain. You may not want it to, but it works just about instantly.

In fact, the ad's effects on the brain "are actually shocking," says UCLA psychiatry professor Dr. Marco Iacoboni.

"The more you are bombarded by ads, the more you are going to be affected by that," Iacoboni said. "It's even philosophical — how much of free will do we have?"

"If more people realized that this was all a question of pushing the right buttons ... I think there would be a realization that maybe I ought to sit down, take the time and study up on the issues," he said.

 

     The REASON FOAC exists is to provide information to not only voter’s but also to the candidates who are themselves the victim of thought transformation through this negative reinforcement drum beat of news that is designed to control not only voters but also the social issues that are so often debated as part of campaigning.

 

GUN OWNERS HARRISBURG UPDATE:

 

Gun Owners STOP Anti-Gun Assault of the Decade!

The much anticipated [dreaded!] Committee of the Whole has come and gone but the fallout from it will be felt for months if not years.  Gun owners and statewide sportsmen’s groups came together as part of a well thought out and carefully implemented strategy that took months to develop.  Working quietly with pro-gun legislators of both parties, led by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and Rep. Marc Gergely, we were able to prepare our arguments and to contact gun owners throughout the state to advise them of the dangers that this Committee of the Whole presented to our Freedoms and to the safety of our communities.

The idea of a Committee of the Whole session started as a result of the anti-gun legislators attaching their gun bans to every piece of crime legislation that came through the house this past spring.  In response, our freedom loving legislators would propose pro-gun initiatives.  With the house having to debate this endless barrage, the leadership decided to have a hearing on all the initiatives at a single session- hence the “Committee of the Whole.”  In this way each proposal would be discussed and a straw vote taken.  Those that were defeated would die there.  Those that passed the straw vote would then go on for more formal consideration.  This also gave Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) a platform to advance his campaign for mayor.

Opposing gun owners were virtually every ‘national’ and every statewide anti-gun organization, a number of mayors from various cities including Mayor Street from Philadelphia and even Mayor Bloomberg (the anti-gun Mayor from New York City).  The City of Philadelphia and Mayor Street sent to Harrisburg 25 buses (paid for by taxpayers money) filled with about 1200 individuals who were given a free trip to and from Harrisburg, free breakfast, free lunch, free hats and free shirts. These individuals included Philadelphia sanitation workers with a paid day off and the notorious Black Panther militant anti-law enforcement group.

Our game plan was kept simple and straightforward:  If the anti-gunners could use this forum to advance their agenda, so could we. We gave the legislators led by Daryl Metcalfe (R-12) and Marc Gergely (D-35) a host of anti-crime concepts that did not infringe upon our rights and eliminated the spider web of useless and unnecessary regulations used to ensnare law abiding citizens.

Conservative Talk Show hosts like Jim Quinn & Rose and others were invaluable in providing a platform and publicity for what we needed to do and mobilizing our base.

The plan all came together the morning of the 26th.  Our advance team was in place, we met with supportive legislators early on the 26th gave them a detailed briefing and a set of talking points.  We had a communication network setup for unforeseen developments on the house floor.  Group leaders were to arrive and get their contact lists and instructions.  After the groups made their rounds of all legislative offices and met with legislators they were to return to Rep. Metcalfe’s office for additional instructions and key action planning points. 

Unfortunately as with all plans there is always a hitch.  The legislative leadership decided to convene an hour early, at 10AM.  This required us to modify and adapt our schedule as we didn’t get to brief the group leaders as well as we would have liked on the final shortened talking points and our registration table didn’t have time to coordinate volunteers fully lest we loose the opportunity for those that traveled to Harrisburg to lobby legislators.  Because our people got to the capitol early and were self-starters, we were able to make our contacts in this somewhat shortened time frame.  The opposition on the other hand was taken totally off guard.

The final analysis of the outcome of the Committee of the Whole shows that we stopped 31 anti-gun pieces of legislation and the pro-gun bills all passed.  Only one anti-gun bill passed and that one required subterfuge on the part of Representative (McGeehan) to sneak it through at the last minute on October 3rd.  The media, Governor Rendell and the Philadelphia legislative caucus are reeling from the beating they took and the rejection of gun control by an overwhelming number of legislators from both parties.

On behalf of the coalition, the ACSL would like to thank you all for your support and hard work and let’s give them another beating on November 7th!

 

Media Bias Alert:

ABC's Special on NRA

by Harry Schneider, Chairman, Pennsylvania Sportsman's Association

 

The theme of the hour long ABC Peter Jennings attack(1, 2) on gun owners was that NRA is deceiving members to panic them into donating money to NRA. ABC claims that NRA uses the money to defeat politicians who voted for reasonable gun control laws.

Peter Jennings focused on the fact that NRA is campaigning against congressman Stupak for voting against NRA only one time: Stupak voted for House concurrence of an anti-gun bill that the Senate already passed (S.254) with the support of Rick Santorum.

Wayne LaPierre defended the NRA's attack on Stupak by bragging that NRA leadership supports more gun control laws and stricter enforcement of existing gun control laws

S.254 will expand instant check to include transfers between private individuals at gun shows. Instant check already applies to dealers at gun shows, just the same way that it applies to dealers in their stores. Wayne LaPierre and Sarah Brady both support expanding the instant check to include private transfers at gunshows. They disagree on the definition of a gun show and Sarah wants "instant" to mean 72 hours, while Wayne wants "instant" to mean 24 hours.

Both versions have the potential to destroy gun shows which are vital to the gun rights movement. Gun shows are where thousands of gun enthusiasts gather in one place. They meet with fellow enthusiasts and gun rights leaders. As they view thousands of firearms and accessories they learn more about their hobby and have a chance to upgrade their collections. They learn about the latest threats to their culture, about how gun banners have learned that soften their rhetoric to make their legislation sound reasonable and safety oriented to lull gun owners to sleep. They learn who to vote for and who to vote against. They learn which groups fight gun control and which only claim to fight gun control.

INSTANT CHECK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DESTROY GUN SHOWS - the Justice Department has repeatedly shut down the instant check during major gun show weekends. This year Justice stopped all dealer sales at the Pennsylvania Gun Collectors Assn show in Pittsburgh and the Harrisburg Show. The following weekend they shut down NICS again during the Ohio Gun Collectors Assn. show. Only private transfers kept the shows from being a total loss - and thus discouraging participants from returning to future shows.

EXTENDING INSTANT CHECK TO INCLUDE PRIVATE TRANSFERS at gunshows will greatly increase the ability of the government to destroy gun shows. The 24 hour vs. 72 hour issue is insignificant compared to the proven fact that extending instant check to include private sales will stop all sales and destroy gunshows when the NICS computer is again shut down for "maintenance" during gun show weekends.

Jennings confronted Wayne LaPierre and accused him of misleading NRA members by telling them that there were no federal prosecutions for Brady violations during a three year period 96,97,98. Wayne corrected the NRA position by saying that there was one prosecution during that period. Jennings produced documents claiming that there were about 600 Federal prosecutions during that period - LAPIERRE LOOKED LIKE A DEER CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS and I have yet to see NRA respond.

Instant check is especially devastating to Pennsylvanians. It isn't just felons who can't possess guns, almost every person who was convicted of any misdemeanor in Pennsylvania prior to 1968 is prohibited from possessing guns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 contains an ex post facto provision mandating lifelong loss of gun rights for any person who has ever been convicted of any misdemeanor punishable by more than two years - even if the person got no jail time at all. Up until 1968 all, yes all Pennsylvania misdemeanors were punishable by up to three years. This includes drag racing, bastardry, a single DWI, and many sealed juvenile offenses that were recently unsealed and entered into the instant check computer.

Most of these people were unaware that they had lost their gun rights under the ex post facto provisions of The Gun Control Act of 1968. Most lived their lives as model citizens until Wayne LaPierre's instant check caught them when they tried to buy a shotgun at their local sporting goods store and they were shocked to discover that they were rejected. Wayne LaPierre wants people prosecuted. We disagree.

Since 1992 each year Congress has voted to prevent these people from applying to have their rights restored. NRA has never asked members to lobby to give these people a chance to have their Constitutional rights restored. Like any good "consumer" we need to learn to differentiate between advertising rhetoric and actual performance.

 

Swann, Rendell clash on gun laws

By Amy Worden (09/11/2006) Inquirer Staff Writer

It was the battle for the bases in the final gubernatorial debate last night.

Gov. Rendell, aiming squarely at urban Democratic voters, hit hard on the need for stronger gun control laws and defended the need for dedicated transit funds, even if it meant raising the state sales tax.

Republican challenger Lynn Swann appealed to the state's rural pro-hunting population, calling for better enforcement of existing gun laws and criticizing Rendell for allocating highway money to support public transit.

The rising rate of violent crime - an issue long plaguing Philadelphia but brought home to residents in smaller communities elsewhere with the Oct. 2 fatal shootings at a Lancaster County Amish school - dominated the second and final gubernatorial debate.

The stark differences between the positions of Rendell, who supports handgun control measures, and Swann, who opposes any gun purchase limits, were made clear during the hour-long exchange at the studios of 6ABC in Philadelphia. Unlike their testy exchange last week in Pittsburgh, it was more like lively cocktail party banter than down-and-dirty politicking.

Echoing the pleas of Philadelphia Democratic state lawmakers who last week failed in their effort to win support for any gun control measures in the General Assembly, Rendell said limits were the only way to curb so-called straw purchasers, who buy guns legally and sell them to criminals.

"We need sensible laws to control the distribution of guns," Rendell said, calling on Swann twice to join him in helping win passage of "commonsense gun laws" in Harrisburg.

Swann, who did not respond to Rendell's challenge, said he agreed that something needed to be done to reduce the number of straw purchasers, but he said it had to be done through better enforcement of existing laws.

"It's not the actual gun, it's the person who has the gun," Swann said. "We have to make sure straw purchasers are locked up."

After the debate, Swann's spokesman, Leonardo Alcivar, angrily called Rendell's challenge to Swann to join him at a news conference calling on the legislature to pass a one-handgun-a-month law "a cheap political trick." Rendell denied it was a trick, saying his request was "born out of frustration" with the defeat of gun control proposals in Harrisburg last week.

 

CCRKBA ASKS FEC TO INVESTIGATE BRADY GROUP FOR POSSIBLE CAMPAIGN LAW VIOLATIONS

BELLEVUE, WA (11/03/2006)– The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is today calling on the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has violated FEC regulations and Federal Election Campaign laws by advocating the election of federal candidates in communications to the general public.

“For at least the past two weeks,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb, “the Brady Campaign has been sending out endorsements over the U.S. Newswire for public consumption. Each one of the Brady Campaign’s news releases had to be paid for, and this amounts to the organization promoting the election of candidates to federal office through paid advertising.
     “This week, the Brady Campaign complained to the FEC about activities of the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, which is like the pot calling the kettle black,” Gottlieb observed. “We haven’t forgotten that in 2003 the Brady Campaign was fined $26,000 by the FEC for failing to properly report $200,000 in expenditures on mailings during 2000 that opposed the re-election of two Republican House candidates.”

In his letter to the FEC, Gottlieb recalled that, according to a report on the Public Citizen website, in both 2000 and 2002, the Brady Campaign “reported to the IRS that it had no political expenditures. That is, they insisted that none of their communications was intended to influence the outcomes of any elections.”

“That was clearly false then, and it would be so today if they made the same argument,” Gottlieb said, “because they’ve been publicly endorsing people left and right – well, left, anyway in a political sense – for the past couple of weeks. These endorsements appear on the Brady Campaign’s website. I can’t see any difference between what they allege the NRA and GOA are doing, and what they themselves are actually doing.

“Then, again,” Gottlieb concluded, “hypocrisy has always been a staple of the Brady Campaign. They claim to support gun ownership, but push for laws to strip Americans of their firearms rights. Now they’re meddling with gun owners’ right to be informed about political races. That’s not campaign hi-jinks, it’s sinister and insidious.”  www.ccrkba.org

 

Town's Emergency Plan Seeks Armed Homes

by Joseph P. Tartaro Executive Editor

All Americans have the right to bear arms and some towns have even gone as far as requiring each household to have a gun, while still others have prohibited posses­sion of certain types of guns.

Now, in an age when people are more concerned about natural disasters and man-made emergencies, a small Idaho town with a population of 860 has clearly linked firearms ownership to emergency planning-and it's causing a lot of buzz on the Internet. It's officially called the Civil Emer­gencies Ordinance. And although gun ownership is just one piece of this ordinance, it's the part that's getting the most attention, according to KTVB Fox 12 News in Boise. That's because few municipal officials think about firearms when they consider emergency planning for their communities.

A Greenleaf city council member proposed the idea as part of the city's new preparedness plan to handle civil emergencies. It would establish an overall emergency response plan and promote its citizen response teams and neighborhood watch volunteer groups, a proactive approach to keep the crime rate to a minimum and deal with emergencies. However, the proposed ordinance would also recommend citizens own a gun and ammuni­tion, and get firearms training.

"We aren't choosing to pick a fight. We're choosing to organize and learn how to defend our own homes," Greenleaf Mayor Brad Holton told KRTV

Holton assumes nearly every person living in his town already owns a gun.

"That's just the nature of our community," said Holton. So he says little would be changed by adopting this ordinance that "recommends every head of household maintain a firearm and ammunition."

"It's requesting. It's not requiring," said Holton. Holton says this is part of a larger plan to establish an organized response to a town emergency and a way to ensure Greenleaf's way of life is protected.

"The law enforcement agencies are not able to take care of each person and each private property, so it's up to local cities and local governments to develop a plan of how you're going to do that," said Holton.

"If I was a burglar or if I was wanting to cause harm and I had all these cities to go to, why would I pick a city that is organized and trained? I wouldn't. I'd pick a city who isn't," said Holton.

Drive about 10 minutes west of Caldwell, ID, and you'll run into Greenleaf If City Council Member Steve Jett has his way, each head of household that can legally own a gun, will. "I think the City Council is hoping it will happen and

that it will be a deterrent to crime as the city and region increases in population," said Lee Belt, Greenleaf city clerk. The proposed ordinance is modeled after a similar plan that went into place in 1982 in Kennesaw, GA, a subur­ban town of about 30,000 north of Atlanta. In that in­stance there was a dramatic decrease in criminal activ­ity. Although crime isn't a huge problem for residents of ,

Greenleaf, the growth in neighboring counties leads them to believe they too are in for some changes.

Not everyone in town is in favor of the plan. Quakers founded this city a century ago.

"Historically, we're one of the peace churches," said Friends of Greenleaf Church Pastor Alan Weinacht. Weinacht says this ordinance goes too far.

"I'm not going to support that. I think that is falling into that culture of fear, and I'm not going to support that. I'm not going to encourage it. I think that's stepping over a line. It's where we don't need to go," said Weinacht.

Weinacht isn't opposed to owning a gun. He has a few himself but says the city has no business encouraging the use of firearms under any circumstance.

If the final language tracks the Kennesaw ordinance, which is to be voted on in November according to the current schedule, anyone who has a religious of philo­sophical objection would be exempt. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

Canadian PM Stands by Plan To Scrap Registry

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sept. 19 continued to defend his plans to scrap the federal long gun regis­try, blaming the previous Liberal govern­ment for chasing after farmers instead of watching out for "insane people or crimi­nals," according to CanWest News Service.

Harper made the comments following revelations in the Journal de Montreal newspaper that police had found legally registered hunting rifles at the home of a teenaged boy who was arrested on Sept. 18 for allegedly threatening to go on a shooting spree in a high school in Hudson, QU, west of Montreal.

But Harper dismissed claims from the opposition Liberals that the latest copy­cat case, which followed the Sept. 13 shoot­ing spree at Montreal's Dawson College, justifies the need for the Liberal gun con­trol laws that have caused headaches for many people in rural Canada.

"What this last government did is that instead of worrying about insane people or criminals, they simply went after farm­ers," Harper said during question period in the House of Commons.

Police started investigating the boy, 15, after viewing threats posted on the same website used by Kimveer Gill, the 25-year­old gunman who opened fire at Dawson College, killing 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa and injuring up to 20, before being killed in a shootout with police. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

Why is preemption important?  Read below:

Utah University Will Allow CCW For Time Being

In a reluctant turnabout, officials at the University of Utah have decided to allow, for the time being anyway, licensed con­cealed carry on campus following a state Supreme Court ruling that their ban on guns is in violation of state statute.

The change in philosophy came more than a week after the court handed down its opinion that the university was wrong to ignore the state law. Under that stat­ute, passed specifically to address the ban, citizens who are legally licensed to carry concealed handguns may do so on the uni­versity campus.

Meanwhile, the school i pursuing a law­suit in federal court that seeks to uphold the ban that they had long imposed. And, according to The Salt Lake 71"ibune, school officials are pursuing some sort of agree­ment with the state on the campus carry issue. Both the state and the university have asked Judge Dale Kimball to delay any action in the federal case until next March 31, by which time they are hopeful of an out-of-court settlement, the newspa­per said.

Anti-gun University President Michael Young has notified the faculty and student body in a letter that the policy has changed. The letter offers details of the state law.

Under state law, only the legislature can set gun policy anywhere in Utah. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

Bellevue, WA, Man Arrested On Weapons Charge by ATF

by Dave Workman Senior Editor

A Bellevue, WA, man has been ar­rested by agents of the Bureau of Alco­hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on weapons charges, and it did not take long for Seattle's two daily newspapers to revive his tenuous link with the slaying of an anti-gun federal prosecutor in Seattle five years ago.

The suspect, Albert Koran, had once been held as a material witness in the assassination of Thomas Wales, a fed­eral prosecutor who was also the presi­dent of Washington CeaseFire, the Northwest's most active anti-gun orga­nization. For months after Wales was murdered, anti-gunners tried to link his death to his gun control activities.

But Koran's arrest, according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Post­Intelligencer (P-I), is not related to his connection to the Wales case. Instead, this case alleges that Koran, a former licensed firearms dealer who is now a collector, had an M-14 rifle that the gov­ernment claims is an illegal machinegun. However, defense attorney Joseph Conte read an ATF document to the court during a preliminary hearing that the gun had to be modified by gov­ernment firearms technicians before it would fire as a full auto, the P-I re­ported.

Gun Week obtained a copy of that document, in which the technician stated, "I examined (the firearm) and determined that it was originally manu­factured as a machinegun by the Win­chester Company in New Haven, Con­necticut. (The rifle) can accept machinegun components and has machinegun components installed, but the engagement surface of the sear re­lease has been removed, and the sear release has been welded to the selector shaft. In this condition, (the rifle) is functional as a semi-automatic firearm, but the machinegun parts have been locked in place by the welded sear re­lease/selector shaft.

"To determine if (the rifle) could be readily restored to shoot in an automatic manner, I used a multipurpose rotary tool with a cutting wheel to cut through the sear release. I then removed the sear release, selector shaft, and selec­tor-shaft lock from (the rifle) and in­stalled a sear release, selector shaft, selector spring, and selector from an M­-14 machinegun."

The technician did not modify the re­ceiver during all of reassembly, and then fired the gun to see if it would fire full­auto. At that point, he wrote, "I discov­ered that the sear ... did not have an engagement surface for the sear re­lease." So, he replaced the trigger group of the rifle with another trigger group which contained the sear with an en­gagement surface and eventually got the rifle to fire three rounds with a single press of the trigger.

Koran's arrest came after a federal grand jury handed down an indictment, and more than 18 months after federal agents had confiscated 16 firearms from his home in January 2005, The Times reported.

Koran's connection to the Wales mur­der investigation appears circumstan­tial at best. As Gun Week first reported almost three years ago, the FBI has been conducting a nationwide search for a Makarov pistol with a replacement barrel sold by a firm in Minneapolis, MN. Koran allegedly had purchased two such replacement barrels, one of which was traced to him. He was arrested as a material witness in January of last year.

Koran is not a suspect in the Wales mur­der. The authorities have actually focused more attention on a former commercial pilot, also living in Bellevue, who had once been prosecuted by Wales. That pilot also happened to be a gun enthusiast, but there is no indication that had anything to do with Wales' prosecution of the man and his business partners.

The pilot had unsuccessfully tried to sue the government. He has not been charged, or even labeled publicly as a suspect.

Immediately after Koran's arrest was publicized by both Seattle newspapers, and The TacomaNews 7Kbune, gun rights activists in Washington complained that the papers were trying to show him guilty by association with firearms.

Meanwhile, the FBI is continuing its search for the Makarov and its replace­ment barrel. Complicating matters, Gun Week learned when it originally broke the story of that search, is that the killer used the wrong caliber ammunition. The result is that bullets recovered at the scene have unusual rifling marks that, said two ballistics experts at the time, might be impossible to duplicate, even if the right barrel is ever found. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

News Briefs:

 

`Friendly Skies' Move Indoors

Flying the "Friendly Skies" may be a bit more, or less, safe nowa­days, after two former federal air marshals have been sent to prison for trying to smuggle cocaine on a flight to Las Vegas, according to Associated Press.

In a story out of Houston, TX, Associated Press reported that Shawn Ray Nguyen and Burlie Scholar III admitted to the au­thorities that they had taken $15,000 in bribe money to move 33 pounds of cocaine.

That's a lot of nose candy, and both men will have a lot of time thinking about it. Scholar was sentenced to nine years in prison by US District Judge Kenneth Hoyt, and Nguyen pulled a seven­year, three-month sentence because he cooperated with the inves­tigation. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

`Dear Abby' Advises Wife

For all of you who thought the "Dear Abby" column was only stuffed with advice to the lovelorn, think again, because in a letter published in the Aug. 29 column, an anonymous cop's wife issued a complaint about her husband's poor gun safety habits.

The advice she got ignited a bit of debate on Internet gun rights forums.

In the letter, the wife complained that her husband leaves his loaded 9mm pistol "lying around our house."

"Last week," she said, "I found it on the kitchen table."

The woman identified herself only as "Upset in Washington," the state in which gun safety and cops do not always run hand in hand. Over the past couple of years, at least three Seattle police officers, including Chief Gil Kerlikowske, have been a bit on the careless side with their pistols. At least one state trooper had his piece ripped off because it was left in his car.

"Upset" told Dear Abby that she is planning to pick up the er­rant pistol and take it down to the police chief and explain the problem. Dear Abby responded that this is an "excellent" solution.

Activists on KeepAndBearArms.com (KABA) weren't so sure. Some think the cop husband has a problem. One suggested that the cop's problem was his choice of wives. Another suggested that the woman get used to living on unemployment. But one writer suggested that the cop is "certifiable" for his careless gun handling. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

Indy Armed Citizen Hero

A legally-armed citizen became a hero in Indianapolis, IN, Aug. 17 when he used his licensed concealed pistol to foil the attempted robbery of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant where he was waiting for a friend who works at the establishment.

According to The Indianapolis Star, Paul Sherlock was seated in the dining room when would-be robber William McMiller Jr. threat­ened a cashier and demanded money. He reportedly had his hand on his rear pocket as if to reach for a gun, and told the terrified cashier to "Give me the money before I shoot you."

Quick to the rescue of cashier Deanna Slaughter came Sherlock, with a Taurus 9mm pistol aimed at McMiller's back. That took the starch out of McMiller, who turned out to be armed with a screw­driver, not a firearm. He raised his hands and kept them there until the cops arrived.

Indianapolis police credited Sherlock for stopping McMiller, who was in the Marion County Jail on $80,000 bond at last report. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

`Pistol Pete' Gets Guns Back

The University of New Mexico has re-armed "Pistol Pete," the school mascot who was disarmed in what critics called a fit of po­litical correctness last year that seems to have turned into some­thing of a costly blunder.

According to Associated Press, the school spent $220,000 on a mar­keting plan that tried to reinvent the image of the university. Pistol Pete's blazing sixguns were evidently considered politically incor­rect, and the mascot wound up being ridiculed as "Lasso Larry."

Now that the makeover flopped, Pete's got his guns back. Pistol Pete is actually Nickolaus Wiegel of Tucumcari. He told reporters that his prop guns do not fire real ammunition, but they are the same size and have the heft of genuine .45-caliber sixguns. The New GUN WEEK, October 10, 2006

 

Gun Control Advocates Want Stricter Regulations
By KEIRA BENSON  (SALISBURY, MD -- WMDT) 9/8/2006

Once every two days, a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun is used in a Maryland crime. That's what a new study reports, but gun shop owner Bill Truitt doesn't think it's that high.

"The true numbers of these guns being used in a crime are very low," Truitt said.
But right or wrong, gun control advocates say they want a ban on long guns.
Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark says that would do more harm than good.

"It'll just create a black market for long guns and we don't need another black market for different weapons here."

And Ruark says it would be pointless, because 30 miles south in Virginia, long guns would be for sale; same story seven miles north in Delaware.
He also says he sees more crimes involving knives than long guns.

"To put it into perspective, out of the last three murders I've tried, two involved a knife and the other brute force."

In fact, he says banning long guns would be an extreme move.
"If you're gonna ban long guns for sale, you should take a look at butcher knives and then butter knives," Ruark said.

That study was based on crime statistics for 1998 through 2001.

 

NSSF Bullet Points

www.nssf.org

 

This Tuesday, Vote Your Sport

The 2006 mid-term elections are this Tuesday, Nov. 7. NSSF urges all sportsmen to take this weekend and learn more about key races, election resources and political headline news by visiting WWW.VOTEYOURSPORT.ORG. 

Many races across the country are too close to call and will come down to the wire. Two races that demonstrate the need for strong sportsmen turnout are in Montana and Missouri, where the U.S. Senate candidates are now running neck and neck. Every vote truly counts -- your vote can make the difference between whether we have a pro-sportsmen, pro-hunting and pro-gun Congress that will preserve and protect our hunting heritage and firearms freedoms.

Sportsmen need to be leery of anti-gun candidates and organizations camouflaging their true colors and cynically pretending to be pro-sportsmen, pro-hunting and pro-gun to deceive sportsmen and hunters into voting for them. Just the other day, for example, anti-gun forces masquerading as the benign-sounding American Hunters & Shooters Association endorsed anti-gun Claire McCaskill for U.S. Senate in Missouri.

"Sportsmen and hunters need to do their homework this weekend on the candidates and the issues that matter most to them. NSSF's Vote Your Sport Web site provides sportsmen and hunters with the tools they need," said NSSF President Doug Painter.

In these final days, it is important that all hunters, shooters and firearms enthusiasts know where their candidates stand.

Visit WWW.VOTEYOURSPORT.ORG this weekend and Vote Your Sport on Tuesday, Nov. 7!

 

(Vol. 7, No. 41-10/09/2006)

'POLITICAL GRANDSTANDING' AND MORE IN BOSTON . . . At a press conference in Boston Thursday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced the expansion of their mayoral coalition against guns. NSSF promptly labeled the announcement "political grandstanding" and challenged the coalition mayors to engage in a constructive dialogue with the firearms industry to advance the shared goal of reducing the criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms. One of the mayors, however, already seems intent on ignoring the industry and its positive efforts. Menino last week announced that Project ChildSafe would partner with the city in distributing 5,000 free gun locks to residents. Not surprisingly, the fact that Project ChildSafe is a program of the firearms industry is conveniently tucked into a paragraph at the bottom of his press release. Can you guess which paragraph Menino was mentioned in?

BLOOMBERG MISDIRECTS HIS ANTI-GUN ANGER . . . "Reducing the criminal misuse of firearms is a goal shared by all Americans, including the firearms industry. But New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would have people think he's the only one addressing the issue," writes NSSF's Lawrence G. Keane in the conservative weekly Human Events. Read Keane's complete column.

(Vol. 7, No. 40-10/02/2006)

HOUSE PASSES ATF REFORM BILL . . . With a 277-131 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives last week passed HR 5092, the "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Modernization and Reform Act of 2006." The legislation, which represents a major advance in protecting the rights of firearms retailers, now heads to the Senate. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have threatened to stall Senate consideration. The bill will bring consistency to ATF enforcement actions and provide ATF with additional compliance tools short of license revocation.  See how your representative voted on HR 5092 and contact them.

JEFF COOPER DEAD AT 86 . . . John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, noted firearms expert who is commonly referred to as the father of the modern technique of handgun shooting, died Sept. 25 at his home in Arizona. He was 86. "Jeff Cooper was a great teacher, innovator and advocate for gun safety. He and his Gunsite Ranch have made a lasting contribution in the use of small arms for personal defense by the military, law enforcement and civilians," said Doug Painter, NSSF president. Read the Los Angeles Times' obituary for Cooper.

(Vol. 7, No. 39-09/25/2006)

INDIANA RESTORES GUN-CARRY RIGHT IN STATE PARKS…Gov. Mitch Daniels has revealed changes made to Indiana law by Executive Order to restore the right to carry a handgun in Indiana state parks and, in fact, on all Department of Natural Resources land. He made the official announcement on Friday in the company of NRA president Sandra Froman. The Indianapolis Star quotes DNR director Kyle Hupfer as saying, “We’re a society of rights…You can carry (handguns) into a…Wal-Mart. I don’t understand why our forest would be different.”

 

(Vol. 7, No. 37-09/11/2006)

FBI NICS CHECKS ON RISE . . . For the fourth straight year, the number of background checks reported by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) increased in 2005. FBI statistics show 8,952,945 NICS checks were reported in 2005, 3 percent higher than 2004. The increase is welcome news for the firearms industry. "The increase we are witnessing in NICS background checks corresponds with increases we are also seeing in excise tax reports," said Frank Briganti, industry research and analysis director for NSSF. Briganti said 2006 is trending even higher. Year-to-date figures (January through August 2006) show 5,848,382 background checks performed -- an increase of 12.1 percent from the same period in 2005. Since the program's inception in 1998, 67.9 million background checks have been reported by NICS.

 

News Story Links:

 

06/10/13 Bill To Seek `Castle Doctrine` Crime Protection

The way state Sen. Jeff Wentworth sees it, Texans should be allowed to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves and their property without facing prosecution. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-castle_13wes.ART0.North.Edition1.3e193c8.html

 

06/10/13 The Posse He Keeps: Bloomberg's Thug Pals

The Issue: Mayor Bloomberg's gun-control initiative and affiliation with gun-toting rappers. "Sheriff Mike Hails 109 in Mayor Posse" (Oct. 6) reports that Mayor Bloomberg led a group of like-minded mayors to Washington, D.C., to demand that Capitol Hill slash the Second Amendment and save us all from violent street thugs. But one day prior, on Oct. 5, Bloomberg was pictured in The Post with the well-known "crime-fighter," Ice-T, who rose to fame in the `90s with his ode to law and order entitled "Cop Killer." http://www.nypost.com/seven/10132006/postopinion/letters/the_posse_he_keeps__bloombergs_thug_pals_letters_.htm

 

06/10/13 Wal-Mart Targets Huntsville For Gun Ban

Need to buy a new gun in Huntsville? Stop by the Bumper to Bumper Huntsville Auto Parts Store and ask to see the merchandise at Dixie Outdoors in a room behind the counter of the auto part store. As of Sept. 1, the Wal-Mart store in Huntsville is one of several Wal-Mart Stores that have stopped selling guns. http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/10/12/news/101306azgunlesswalmart.txt

 

06/10/11 Swann, Rendell Clash On Gun Laws

It was the battle for the bases in the final gubernatorial debate--Gov. Rendell, aiming squarely at urban Democratic voters, hit hard on the need for stronger gun control laws. Republican challenger Lynn Swann appealed to the state's rural pro-hunting population, calling for better enforcement of existing gun laws. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/philadelphia_county/philadelphia/15727515.htm

 

06/10/10 Teaching Common Sense School Protection

Since the Columbine murders in 1999, several important steps have been taken to prevent or thwart school shootings. Much more still needs to be done. The good news is that, since Columbine, police tactics in school attacks have dramatically changed. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTNmZDZhYzg4NTMwODFlMzFmOThjNjhkODMzYzYzMWI

 

06/10/10 Real Crime, Fake Justice

For the last 40 years, government policy in Britain, de facto if not always de jure, has been to render the British population virtually defenseless against criminals and criminality. Almost alone of British government policies, this one has been supremely effective: no Briton nowadays goes many hours without wondering how to avoid being victimized by a criminal intent on theft, burglary, or violence. http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_3_oh_to_be.html10/9/2006

 

06/10/10 Only Press Can Stop Copycats

Do the media play a role in causing mass murders in schools and other public places? Certainly. Can anything be done about it? Perhaps. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_5048733,00.html

 

06/10/10 Bloomberg Misdirects His Anti-Gun Anger

"Reducing the criminal misuse of firearms is a goal shared by all Americans, including the firearms industry," writes Lawrence G. Keane, Esq. "But New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would have people think he's the only one addressing the issue." http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17384

 

06/10/10 British Police: Struggling To Cope With Crime

Despite the enactment of gun control schemes that include a total ban on handguns, police chiefs have admitted they "lack the co-ordination and intelligence" to deal with Britain's gun crisis, sparking fears that thousands of crimes are going unsolved. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/08/ngun08.xml

 

06/10/10 Judge Hears Gun Debate

A federal agency is balking at a Wyoming law that allows people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their right to own guns simply because it wants to take guns away from as many people as possible, a state lawyer told U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in a lawsuit Wyoming filed against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/10/07/news/wyoming/4b407eb9450cfc3d8725720000050d7f.txt

 

06/10/10 America's Courts Not Above Public Criticism

"Recently some leaders of the bench and bar have decried what they describe as unprecedented threats to the independence of the judiciary. I respectfully disagree, " writes Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009059

 

06/10/10 The Crime Statistics

New York City is poised to end the year with either the lowest number of murders in over 40 years or the second lowest number of murders in over 40 years. We haven't agreed with some of Mayor Bloomberg's crime-fighting strategies, such as a drive for ever more gun control that strikes us as unconstitutional and beside the point anyway. It's undeniable, however, that Messrs Bloomberg and Kelly are on the right track, finding ways to devote policing resources to ordinary crime fighting. http://www.nysun.com/article/41141

 

06/10/06 Gun License For Domestic Violence Victims

Legislation pending in Pennsylvania seeks to provide victims of domestic violence with a t