Firearms Owners Against
Crime
"As riches increase and accumulate in few hands, as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard. This is the real disposition of human nature; it is what neither the honorable member nor myself can correct. It is a common misfortunate that awaits our State constitution, as well as all others." -- Alexander Hamilton (speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, June 1788)
E-Newsletter & FOAC
Meeting Notice
October 14, 2007
Meeting Agenda-
Invited Guest Speakers:
· Vince Gastgeb (County Council-District 5)
· Jan Rea (County Council-District 2)
· Sue Caldwell (County Council-District 7)
7.1 Presentation of the past month’s report
8.1
None
9.0 NEW BUSINESS
9.1
Voter’s
Guide Approval
9.2
9.3
Judiciary
Committee Hearings (Past, Present and Future)
9.3.1
Fall
Anti-Gun Offensive Plans
9.3.2
Lobbying
& Education Day – October 23rd
9.4
Pro-Gun
Agenda Developments
9.5
Political
Events Review and Summary
9.6
Membership
committee developments
Federal issues:
9.7
HR
2640 & Public Debate / Issues
**Upcoming Gun
Show: October 27th
& 28th (
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/
FOAC - 2007
Meeting Schedule
Jan 14, 2nd Sunday, Feb 11, 2nd Sunday, Mar 11, 2nd Sunday,
Apr 15, 3rd Sunday, May 6, 1st Sunday, Jun 10, 2nd Sunday, Jul 8, 2nd Sunday,
Aug 12, 2nd Sunday, Sep 9, 2nd Sunday, Oct 14, 2nd Sunday, Nov 4, 1st Sunday, Dec 9, 2nd
Sunday
**Time of Meeting: 10:00 AM
**Location:
****Coffee and Donuts will be
provided
***Primary Election -- May 15 (Results Finalized)
***General Election -- Nov. 6
PA Legislative Battles Over Gun Control Continue
Therefore we are planning on taking
another trip to Harrisburg on Tuesday Oct 23, 2007 to reinforce in legislators minds the premise that we
EXPECT action on ‘our’ legislation and that we are closely watching the
legislative process and every action taken on the anti-gun bills.
This will be a day devoted strictly to Legislator Interaction and
Lobbying/Education that will run from 9am to 3 pm in the Capitol building and
associated offices in
Why is it SO important for the average gun owner to
take part in this???
Certain
Philadelphia legislators have even stooped to using tax money to pay for a poll
that ‘supposedly’ demonstrates that even ‘gun owners’ want more gun control to
include One Gun a Month, Mandatory Training, Assault Weapon Bans and other gun
control concepts. Have YOU or ANYONE you know
been surveyed OR does this belief have ANY
support in YOUR club? NO!! Well
we DIDN’T think so!!
This
particular individual lobbying event will be focused on dispelling these
notions. It is important to remember
that there are dozens of anti-gun bills that are either pending or that have
been held up in the Judiciary Committee so far.
Combining that with the fact that over 25% of the PA House is
comprised of new representatives in this session with a large portion of them
not having committed to a decision (much less a vote yet) on all of these Anti
and PRO gun bills pending. We feel it is
imperative that we take the initiative to educate these new Reps and other
incumbent Reps as to why they should support and oppose other proposed
legislation. We must educate them with facts, figures, and real world realities
about crime and criminal problems and how these laws could help and hurt the
people of
DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN!!!!
You personally can make a huge
difference by attending and
participating in this event to help educate our legislators with your fellow
gun owners as to the reason why firearm ownership is so important to you. YOUR voice could make the all the difference
at this Legislator “Lobbying and Education” day in the state capital.
Please make EVERY EFFORT to join us on this most important opportunity, to protect your
constitutional rights to keep and bear arms and help pass PRO-gun bills that
will make PA a safer place to live for everyone except the criminals.
We PROMISE another spirited day!!
Brady Campaign Data Fudged To Exploit
by Dave Workman Senior Editor
The
shooting death of a Miami-Dade police sergeant and the wounding of three others
by a gunman who was subsequently killed by other officers is reason enough to
renew a ban on so-called "assault weapons," according to the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
In a
press release Sept. 18, the Brady Campaign focused on the gun used in the
crime, identified as an AK-47, noting that Sgt. Jose Somohano's
death occurred "three years to the day after the Federal Assault Weapons
ban expired."
However,
in claiming that "More officers are killed with firearms than through any
other single cause," the Brady Campaign's own data-taken from the National
Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF)--does not support that
assertion. Gun Week checked the figures after doing some quick math using the
Brady press release which stated, "According to the National Law
Enforcement Memorial (sic), there have been 132 officer fatalities in the
Those
figures suggested that less than half of the police officers who died on the
job during those two years were the victims of gunshot wounds. There was no
supporting data on the number of officers actually killed with so-called
"assault weapons." Gun Week also found that Brady erred on the number
of police actually shot in 2005. Fifty-nine, not 50 officers died, but even
that figure is less than half of the 162 police officers who died on the job.
In
2004, according to NLEOMF figures, 162 officers died on the job, 59 of those
from gunshot wounds. In 2000, 50 of the 147 cop deaths were from shootings, and
in 2002, 60 of the 157 officers who died were shot. In 2001, there were 72
shooting deaths out of 239 officer fatalities (the same number that died in
the 9/11 terrorist attack). In 2000, 53 of the 161 officers killed on the job
died from gunshot wounds. Over the past 10 years, 582 of the 1,649 lawmen and
women who died on the job were shot. Do the math. Less than half and closer to
a third of the officers who have died on the job in the last decade were shot.
Over
the past 10 years, NLEOMF data revealed, 582 police officers were gunshot
victims. That is from a total of 1,649 police officers killed on the job in
the years from 1997 through 2006.
By
contrast, 707 officers died in traffic accidents, including 78 who were killed
in motorcycle accidents and another 151 who were struck by vehicles. Another
478 died in auto crashes.
Add
to that figure the 25 who drowned, another 15 who were fatally stabbed, the 73
who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack and 133 who died from
"job-related illness," and the number of police officers who have
died during the past 10 years numbers far less than half of the total. The
figure is actually closer to a third of all law enforcement on-the-job
fatalities.
According
to the July 17 issue of USA Today, there has been a spike in fatal police
shootings for the first six months of the year. The number of officers gunned
down during the first half of 2007 was 39, which is up from the 27 who were
shot to death during the first six months of 2006.
Traffic-related
deaths rose 36% for the same period, the newspaper revealed. The overall total
of line-of-duty fatalities for the first six months of this year came to 101,
according to USA Today.
In another
gaffe, the Brady Campaign asserted that "Through Sept. 14th of this year
police officer deaths exceed the total number of officers killed in the line of
duty by a firearm in any of the last six years." That allegation is
accurate only if the data were to include all of the officer deaths from every
cause, not just gunshot wounds. The wording of the Brady claim, however, might
lead one to believe that more officers have died in shootings this year than
during the past six years. But the Brady Campaign's own figures do not square
with that claim.
As
of Sept. 14, when the Brady group said 54 cops have been gunned down this year,
that figure is eclipsed by the number of officers killed by gunshot wounds in
2005, 2004, 2002 and 2001.
It
should be noted that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, law
enforcement is a less risky occupation than logging, commercial fishing, construction, truck driving, roofing and piloting an
aircraft.
However,
The Christian Science Monitor recently reported that there has been "a
spike in the number of police officers who died in the line of duty" that
has not been seen since 1978. That newspaper said there has been a 59% increase
in the number of police shootings over the same period in 2006, and it has
raised alarms in law enforcement.
Miami-Dade cop killer Shawn Sherwin LaBeet
was no stranger to law enforcement in south
Guns Don't Kill Kids, Irresponsible
Adults With Guns Do
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By
Should your doctor ask your child
if you own a gun?
Guidelines issued by the
They warn that "Children are
curious even if they've had some sort of firearm training. That's why parents
taking responsibility for safe gun storage is so essential."
Doctors across the
It sounds simple enough, but the
problem is that the advice ignores the benefits and exaggerates the costs of
gun ownership.
Take a recent example from
Herald:
"Debbie is a mom from Uxbridge
who was in the examination room when the pediatrician asked her 5-year-old,
'Does Daddy own a gun?'
"When the little girl said
yes, the doctor began grilling her and her mom about the number and type of
guns, how they are stored, etc.
"If the incident had ended
there, it would have merely been annoying.
"But when a friend in law
enforcement let Debbie know that her doctor had filed
a report with the police about her family's (entirely legal) gun ownership, she
got mad."
Perhaps it was only a matter of
time. Accidental gun deaths involving children get national coverage. News
programs stage experiments with 5 and 6-year-olds in a room filled with toys
and a gun. Shocking pictures show the children picking up the gun and playing
with it like a toy. For years, the
With all this attention, the fear
is understandable, but it is still irresponsible. Convincing patients not to
own guns or to at least lock them up will cost more lives than it will save. It
also gives a misleading impression of what poses the greatest dangers to
children.
Accidental gun deaths among
children are fortunately much rarer than most people believe. Consider the
following numbers.
In 2003, for the
28 children under age 10 died from
accidental shots. With some 90 million gun owners and about 40 million children
under 10, it is hard to find any item as commonly owned in American homes, as
potentially as lethal, that has as low of an accidental death rate.
These deaths also have little to do
with "naturally curious" children shooting other children. >From 1995
to 2001 only about nine of these accidental gun deaths each year involve a
child under 10 shooting another child or themselves. Overwhelmingly, the
shooters are adult males with long histories of alcoholism, arrests for violent
crimes, automobile crashes, and suspended or revoked driver's licenses.
Even if gun locks can stop the few
children who abuse a gun from doing so, gun locks cannot stop adults from
firing their own gun. It makes a lot more sense for doctors to ask if
"daddy" has a violent criminal record or a history of substance
abuse, rather than ask if they own a gun.
Fear about guns also seems greatest
among those who know the least about them.
For example, those unfamiliar with
guns don't realize that most young children simply couldn't fire your typical
semi-automatic pistol. Even the few who posses the strength to pull back the
slide on the gun are unlikely to know that they must do that to put the bullet
in the chamber or that they need to switch off the safety.
With so many greater dangers facing
children everyday from common household items, it is not obvious why guns have
been singled out. Here are some of the other ways that children under 10 died
in 2004.
Over 1,400 children were killed by cars, almost 260 of those deaths were young pedestrians.
Bicycle and space heater accidents take many times more children's lives than
guns. Over 90 drowned in bathtubs. The most recent yearly data available
indicates that over 30 children under age 5 drowned in five-gallon plastic
water buckets.
Yet, the real problem with this gun
phobia is that without guns, victims are much more vulnerable to criminal
attack. Guns are used defensively some 2 million times each year. Even though
the police are extremely important in reducing crime, they simply can't be
there all the time and virtually always arrive after the crime has been
committed. Having a gun is by far the safest course of action when one is confronted
by a criminal.
The cases where young children use
guns to save their family's lives rarely makes the
news. Recent examples where children's lives were clearly lost because guns
were locked and inaccessible are ignored.
Recent research that I did examining
juvenile accidental gun deaths for all
Asking patients about guns not only
strains doctor patient relationships, it exaggerates the dangers and risks
lives. Yet, in the end, possibly some good can come out of all
this gun phobia. If your doctors ask you whether you own a gun, rather
than sarcastically asking them if they own a space heater, why not offer to go
out to a shooting range together and teach them about guns?
By
STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 4,
2:27 PM ET
Deep
inside
Most
of the guns, used now for forensic research, were seized during crimes under a
31-year-old law in the nation's capital that
bars handgun ownership for nearly everyone except law enforcement — a measure
police have praised as a valuable tool against violence.
But
that ban is now in jeopardy.
The law was struck down by a federal appeals court this year, and now the
The
case represents the first time a federal appeals court struck down a
gun-control law on the grounds that the Second Amendment guarantees the right
of individuals to own guns. Up to now, courts have generally interpreted the
amendment to protect only the collective right of states to maintain militias.
If
it takes the case, the high court could issue its first direct ruling on the
Second Amendment in 70 years, solidifying some
of the nation's toughest gun
laws or exposing them to a torrent of new
challenges.
"It
will be the biggest ruling on the Second Amendment ever," Paul Helmke,
president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence. "You get nervous when you see something with far-reaching
implications."
Even
the National Rifle Association, which believes it might have an advantage with
a conservative-leaning high court, is uneasy.
"I'd
rather be on our side than on their side, given the chances, but there is
always a `but,'" said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive
vice president.
Lawyers
for the city and the plaintiffs, who are backed by the libertarian Cato
Institute, say they believe the court will break its long silence on gun rights. D.C. officials say they expect to learn
by early November whether the Supreme Court will take the case.
Passed
in 1976,
Critics
say the law has done little to curb violence, mainly because guns obtained
legally from outside D.C. or through illegal means are still readily available.
Although
the city's homicide rate has declined dramatically since its peak in the early 1990s, it still ranks among the nation's highest, with 169 killings in
2006.
Last
year, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department seized 2,656 guns, up 13
percent from 2005. Many of the guns flowed in
from surrounding states such as
Linda
Singer, the district's attorney general, said public safety is the main reason
the city decided to take the case to the Supreme Court. Without the law, the
city's homicide rate would probably be higher, she said.
"More
guns leads to more gun violence," she
said.
The
Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
security of a
In March, a three-judge
panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the city's gun law in a 2-1
decision, saying it violated residents' Second Amendment rights.
Some
cities and states with tough gun laws are getting nervous about D.C.'s appeal. During
the lower court proceedings,
Helmke,
of the Brady Campaign, said the group suggested to
Not
everyone shares the gloomy outlook.
Kenneth
Barnes Sr., an anti-violence activist whose son was shot in the face and killed during a 2001 robbery in
"This is the capital of
the
OR Teacher Sues for Gun Rights; Senator
Vows Campus Ban Guns
by Dave Workman Senior Editor
An Oregon public school teacher was due to be in Jackson
County court Oct. 11 in her lawsuit against the Medford school district,
seeking the ability to bring her handgun to work for protection against her
reportedly violent ex-husband, against whom she has a restraining order.
The lawsuit is being funded by the Oregon Firearms
Educational Foundation. The case has taken on national implications, and the
woman's attorney, James Leuenberger of
Sen. Ginny Burdick, who traveled to
"Yet, she obviously thinks single moms don't need
protection from abusive ex-spouses, nor is she the least bit concerned about
discriminating against law-abiding Oregon female gunowners
who happen to be teachers," Gottlieb said.
He characterized the legislation as a bill "designed
to "make female teachers more vulnerable to abusive ex-spouses by specifically
stripping away their right of self-defense on school campuses.
"Sen. Burdick is a text book example of the
socially-prejudiced liberal," Gottlieb observed, "She would stand up
for a woman's right to choose on every issue except when it comes to the choice
of personal protection. In this case, she obviously feels women like the
teacher in
He was joined in his criticism by CCRKBA Executive
Director Mark A. Taff, who noted that there has never
been a case where a legally-armed teacher ever harmed a student on a public
school campus. He reminded Gun Week about
Leuenberger admitted to Gun Week that he had not anticipated this
case would become something of a cause celeb in the gun rights community. But
in the days following his filing of the lawsuit against
The teacher has maintained a low profile throughout the
ordeal, and Leuenberger told Gun Week that she has been "very stressed." He said the judge "may or may
not" announce a decision right away, but no matter how he rules, it is
likely there will be an appeal.
The teacher did author an Op-Ed opinion piece in the
Sept. 16 edition of The
Portland Oregonian, in
which she said her ex-husband had threatened to kill her. The ex-husband is
apparently approved as a substitute teacher in the
IACP
The so-called "Great Lakes Summit on Gun Violence"
held in Chicago
earlier this year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP),
and the report issued by that organization in September were largely financed
by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation.
This revelation prompted Alan Gottlieb, founder of the, Second
Amendment Foundation, to question whether the IACP report deserved any
credibility in its findings and recommendations. In a stinging opinion piece,
co-written by Gun Week Senior Editor Dave Workman, Gottlieb said the
IACP is "revealing itself to be the best group of police officials money
can buy."
The Gottlieb-Workman piece was not the only criticism
leveled at the summit or the report, "Taking a Stand: Reducing Gun
Violence in Our Communities." National Rifle Association radio host Cam
Edwards, and veteran gun rights activist David Hardy also took swipes at the
IACP and Joyce Foundation.
Wrote Edwards on his blog:
"This is an anti-gun report bought and paid for by an anti-gun foundation,
assembled by antigunners from the Joyce Foundation,
Harvard, and the
Gun Week obtained data listing Joyce Foundation grants of $375,000 and $174,788
for the IACP's summit, along with another $99,935
"to develop and execute the release of a report on the Great Lakes States
Summit on Firearm Violence."
Among the IACP's
recommendations were that all gun sales be done only through licensed firearms
retailers, with mandatory background checks. IACP also recommends banning
so-called "assault weapons" and ".50-caliber sniper
rifles." They want Congress to repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, a federal law
that protects sensitive federal gun trace data from general access.
The summit was attended by representatives of various
law enforcement agencies and several prominent regional and national anti-gun
rights organizations, including the
Also receiving criticism was the press for virtually
overlooking the links between the Joyce Foundation and the IACP, despite the
fact that the foundation trumpeted its involvement in the summit and
production of the report on its own website. According to the Joyce website,
the foundation "has funded IACP to work collaboratively with law enforcement
officials, public and medical health professionals, researchers and
policy-makers to address gun violence reduction through a coordinated, regional
approach." The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
Senators Grill ATF
Nominee
US Attorney Michael Sullivan fielded some tough questions
about gun laws while winning praise Sept. 26 at a Senate confirmation hearing
to become director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF), according to Associated Press.
Sullivan, a former Republican state legislator and
district attorney in
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), who chaired the Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing, lauded Sullivan's "distinguished career in
public service."
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) introduced Sullivan at the
hearing, praising both his professional abilities and his character.
"It is a job that he's proven more than qualified
and capable of performing," Kerry said.
Sullivan also faced some grilling from Kennedy and Sen.
Charles Schumer (D-NY) about whether the ATF would be willing to release more
gun tracing data, a move the senators said could help state and local law
agencies fight gun crime.
Sullivan said there has been confusion about what data
ATF could share, but he said he hopes ATF will provide more data.
Sullivan has repeatedly stressed his agency's support for
the Tiahrt amendment which restricts release of such information to local law
enforcement engaged in criminal investigations. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
KY Collegians Slate Protest of Campus Gun
Ban
Students
at
The
university, in
The
newspaper quoted Caott. Mike Dowell with the Western
University Police Department, who said, "It's not the smartest idea to
walk around with an empty holster, but there's nothing illegal about it."
Organizers
of the event might concur with Dowell's assessment to a point. It is their
opinion that there ought to be something in the holster, and that's why they
are planning this protest. Their aim is to get the university to reconsider its
prohibition, so that students who are legally licensed to carry handguns can
do so on the campus.
University
officials do not appear ready to budge.
The
week-long protest is being organized by the Students for Concealed Carry on
Campus. This organization was founded in reaction to the April massacre at Virginia
Tech, and there are chapters on several college campuses. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
NEWS RELEASES
BLOOMBERG LOOKING
BELLEVUE, WA – The renewed scandal involving alleged missing
machine guns that had been secretly and illicitly purchased by officers with
the Albany, NY Police Department several years ago suggests that if New York
Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to go after illegal guns, he need only drive up
the Hudson River with his rogue investigators and turn them loose, the Second
Amendment Foundation said today.
The Albany Times Union reported this week that dozens of automatic weapons,
obtained apparently without approval by police officers in 1993 and 1994 –
during the first Clinton Administration – were originally thought to have been
rounded up and destroyed a few years ago. But now, the newspaper said, some of
these guns are apparently still missing. One of the guns was reportedly found
at a
“While Mayor Bloomberg has been bullying gun shops in other states for alleged
illegal gun trafficking, he might want to send his vigilante private
investigators to harass the Keystone Kops of the Albany Police Department,”
said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “And instead of suing gun dealers for firearms
that show up in New York City crimes, maybe he ought to apologize to the
citizens of Texas for the fact that an illicit Albany machine gun showed up in
their state.
“Bloomberg and people like him repeatedly argue that one type of firearm or
another should be restricted to the police and military,” he continued. “This
case, and similar ones in
“Perhaps the worst part about this scandal is that it is a black mark against
all the good, decent police officers out there who wouldn’t dream of being
mixed up in something like this,” Gottlieb observed. “Millions of law-abiding
American citizens, including thousands who currently own fully-automatic
firearms, have never been involved in anything remotely similar to this fiasco,
yet Mike Bloomberg wants to strip them of their gun rights.
“Contrary to what the Bloomberg Bunch says, maybe these guns should be
restricted to anybody but the police,” Gottlieb concluded.
-END-
News Briefs:
Judge Rejects
Bloomberg Ploy
A federal district court in
That lawsuit, supported by the Second Amendment
Foundation, names as defendants Bloomberg, the city's corporation counsel,
criminal justice coordinator and police commissioner, and a private
investigation company that was hired to conduct so-called "sting"
operations against Adventure Outdoors and several other gun shops in at least
five states. The lawsuit was filed in 2006 in federal court in
The US District Court for the
Northern District of Georgia ruled there was jurisdiction in
KS Robber Gets Headache
Bid a belated goodbye to a drug store robber identified
as Alexander Mies, who strolled into a
Surprise of bad surprises for Mies:
One of the partners in the drug store had a gun of his own, and he was plenty
fast with it. The unidentified pharmacy owner opened fire with a shotgun and
nailed Mies with a head shot.
According to KWCH news in
Guard Hurt in Mishap
There was no "China Syndrome" episode, but a
lot of people at the Seabrook nuclear power station scrambled Sept. 17 when a
guard at the facility accidentally shot himself in the leg, according to Foster's Daily Democrat newspaper in
The unidentified guard, who works for Wackenhut Security,
was holstering his handgun when the pistol discharged, sending a bullet into
his lower leg. At the time, the guard was just coming on duty, the newspaper
reported.
According to the newspaper, the wounded guard had worked
at the plant for about a year. He was treated and released from a local
hospital. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
Victim Tried to Clear Gun Jam
Looks like Michael Kurty of
An auxiliary police officer with, the Duncansville Police
Department, Kurty reportedly was working for East Coast
Gun Sales at a demonstration of the machinegun. He and another person had
reportedly fired several rounds before the `gun jammed, and Kurty
was apparently shot even after the gun was disconnected from a power source.
He reportedly had trained only for about 24 hours with
the firearm, which was being displayed and demonstrated at a gun show in
One Crime Too Many in NC
It appears that Howard Jones, 55, of
According to WXII news and The Winston-Salem
Journal, Jones
was in the midst of a break-in at a home in
The homeowner confronted Jones, who had raised a ladder
to get inside the house via a window. It appears, the newspaper said, that
Jones advanced on the homeowner, who fired two shots first into the ground, and
then one at Jones when he didn't stop. When police arrived; they found Jones lyin`g on the lawn with a bullet wound in the chest. He was
transported to a nearby hospital, where he died. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
Anti-Gun Hypocris in
The Chicago Tribune reported in late August that
Louie Velasquez, an outreach worker for CeaseFire, a
local antigun group that reportedly targets gang violence, was busted for
possession of an AK47, a handgun, drug paraphernalia and live marijuana
plants.
The 23-year-old Velasquez apparently had worked for the
antigun program for about four months prior to his arrest, according to CeaseFire founder Gary Slutkin.
The newspaper said that Velasquez was fired.
The arrest happened on the night of Aug. 25. Velasquez
faces charges of cannabis production, and having a firearm and ammunition
without a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card. The story indicated that
Velasquez is a former gang member, and said that CeaseFire
recruits and employs former gang members who can work with gangs in their
community. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
News Links:
07/10/09
Police said
Darren Pickerill was shot during a “road-rage”
incident in June. The gunman who shot him: recently retired Jeffersontown
Police Officer Richard Koenig who claimed he fired in self-defense. http://www.wlky.com/news/14300965/detail.html
07/10/08
CRANDON,
Tyler Peterson, 20, was shot
to death after opening fire early Sunday on a group of students and recent
graduates who had gathered for pizza and movies during their high school's
homecoming weekend. Peterson was off-duty from his full-time job as a
"How do they know
somebody's background, especially that young? It is disturbing, to say the
least."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_re_us/wisconsin_shooting
07/10/07 Workplace gun ban OK
U.S. District Judge Terence
Kern issued a 93-page order in which he said amendments to the Oklahoma
Firearms Act and the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act conflict with a federal law
meant to protect employees on the job.
Assistant Attorney General
Sherry Todd said Friday that Judge Kern's opinion likely will be appealed.
The amendments to the laws
were made after Weyerhauser Corp. fired eight
employees in 2002 when guns were found in their cars on company lots in
Judge Kern, in issuing a
permanent injunction, said the amendments "criminally prohibit an
effective method of reducing gun-related workplace injuries and cannot co-exist
with federal obligations and objectives."
07/10/07 NY: Woman fights for life after psycho goes on knife
rampage A shirtless madman wielding stolen knives went on a bloody midtown
rampage yesterday - stabbing a restaurant worker and a psychologist walking her
dog before being shot by an off-duty cop, authorities said
07/10/06 CNN Pushes
Gun Control in
On Thursday's "Anderson Cooper 360," CNN's Randi Kaye filed a
story in which she promoted gun control as a solution
for Philadelphia's crime problems, as she pushed the argument that
the city's high rate of gun violence was the result of Pennsylvania state
lawmakers voting to loosen gun laws in the 1990s. And, as if criminals would
bother to apply for a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon, Kaye further
suggested that the availability of concealed carry permits has contributed to
the city's problems. Kaye: "In 1995 there were fewer than 800
applications for concealed weapons here. 'Keeping Them
Honest,' we checked, and today there are 29,000 permits to carry. And it's
against the law for police to ask anyone why they want one. One law enforcement
source told me permits to carry are being passed out like candy."
07/10/05 The Christian Council of
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200710050956.html
07/10/04 Gun Control Doesn`t
Protect Us -- Guns Do -
When
07/10/03 Cartels outrun, outgun the law at
Fed report details thriving
business behind violent international industry
In recent years, officials
have arrested drug smugglers in
Smugglers used such weapons five years ago to gun down Kris Eggle,
a park ranger at
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1003dope1003.html
07/10/03 Manhunt Underway For Home Invasion Suspect
(CBS13)
07/10/02 Gun Bill Not Anti-Veteran There is no such
thing as the “Veterans Disarmament Act.”
There is no pending legislation that would take firearms away from veterans.
There is no pending legislation that would prevent a person with post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), veteran or not, from purchasing a firearm or ammo. http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,151321_1,00.html?wh=wh
07/10/02 NRA v UN There is a bizarre concern buzzing
in the far reaches of the blogosphere that the United
Nations is currently plotting to take Americans' guns away. Wulfe's Mom
07/10/02 Frayser Home
Invasion: Man Fights Back A man fights back three robbers after being forced
inside his Frayser home at gunpoint. It happened just
after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at a home in the 700 block of
07/10/02 HVCC eyes guns for guards
Security officers at
07/10/02 Gun crazy Even the National Rifle Association
admitted after the Virginia Tech
massacre that federal guns laws had to be tightened to keep weapons out of the
hands of people who were demonstrably mentally ill. Could anyone oppose
background checks to determine whether a would-be gun buyer had ever been
deemed dangerously disturbed?
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/10/02/2007-10-02_gun_crazy.html
07/10/02 Times Attack on Coburn Validates Action
Against Gun Grabber Ramrod Tactics,
Says Right to Self-Defense Advocate WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/
-- "When The New York Times editorialized Monday against Sen. Tom Coburn
(OK) for blocking a gun bill it supports, the Times confirmed the significance
of Coburn's action," John M. Snyder of Telum
Associates, LL.C., said here today. Coburn last week prevented Sen. Chuck
Schumer (NY) from fast-tracking a NICS alleged improvements bill out of
committee directly to the Senate floor by objecting to the unanimous consent
agreement Schumer and others propose. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-02-2007/0004674510&EDATE=
07/10/02 Officer Accidentally Shoots Self In Leg A police officer accidentally shot himself around
noon on the 1900 block of
The warrant officer from
Northwest Detectives was serving a warrant when he said he felt threatened by a
pit bull at the scene. He went to shoot the dog but accidentally shot himself
in the leg, police said. http://www.nbc10.com/news/14253950/detail.html?dl=headlineclick
07/10/02 The meaning of the right to bear arms The Sept. 28 letter Keep U.S. secure asks, ''Who is
here to defend us with the Army and National Guard overseas?'' The militia, of
course, as set forth in the Second Amendment -- civilians armed with their own
weapons. Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of
the Japanese Navy during World War II, said, ''You cannot invade the mainland
07/10/02 The right of people to bear arms must not be
denied -- Apparently the
07/10/01 New firearm
restrictions in force Retailers across the
07/10/01 City Enacts Gun Offender Registry
07/10/01 Police:
07/10/01 Man caught assaulting woman shot by victim A man who was caught sexually assaulting a
07/09/30 Castle Doctrine Law Helping Victims Of
Crimes
Michigan`s self-defense act will be a year old
Monday. The law allows people to use deadly force, with no duty to retreat, if
they reasonably think they face imminent death, great bodily harm or sexual
assault. They can use deadly force anywhere they have a legal right to be.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070930/NEWS06/709300597/1003/NEWS01
07/09/30 W.V. Senator confident about ‘castle
doctrine’ bill passage.
Based on the old English
common law that “a man’s home is his castle,” it allows a homeowner to use
deadly force, if needed, to repel an intruder without fear of facing either
criminal charges or civil liability. Actually, the idea harkens back centuries
before medieval
To date, the Castle Doctrine
has become law in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, North and South Dakota,
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Alaska, Idaho, Missouri and Maine.’
http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_273232939.html
07/09/30 Some in U.N. pushing for worldwide arms-trade
treaty UNITED NATIONS In what U.N.
officials say is an "overwhelming" response, almost 100 governments
have submitted ideas for such a treaty, to be reviewed over the next year.
There's an "extremely urgent" need for controls on the international
gun trade, says
07/09/30 Laws make gun trail tracing difficult A slip of paper stood between Robert Bigi and a gun used in a shooting across the state line in
07/09/30 Gun law helping victims of crimes
07/09/30 East Memphis homeowner shoots burglar An
07/09/30 Intruders shot, one fatally, in
07/09/29 Man Who Shot Teen after Prank Acquitted SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. - A Willcox
man who shot and wounded a teenage girl after she and her friends banged on his
windows in a late-night prank was acquitted of three felonies, but a jury
couldn't reach a verdict on a fourth charge. http://news.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=607111
07/09/28 Rockwall, Frisco Residents Say Peace
Shot By Dove Hunters
The same open space that represents a quiet rural life to homeowners moving to
the suburbs represents something else to outdoorsmen: hunting ground.
07/09/28 Ice-cream manager facing case
07/09/27 Store Clerk Pulls Gun, Scares Away Robbers
07/09/27 Ex-military to be denied gun ownership The Gun Owners of America is launching an urgent
campaign encouraging citizens to call their
07/09/27 The
D.C. Gun Ban: Supreme Court Preview-
CATO Institute
On September 4, the District of Columbia government asked the Supreme Court to
reverse a federal appellate decision in Parker v. District of Columbia, 478
F.3d 370 (D.C. Cir. 2007), which upheld a Second Amendment challenge to D.C.`s ban on all functional firearms. Sometime before
yearend, the justices will decide whether to review the case. If the Supreme
Court chooses to intervene, a final decision will probably be issued by June
30, 2008.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8717
07/09/27 Locked
And Loaded - New York Sun
The 2008 GOP presidential primary is shaping up to be the most competitive
nominating process the party has seen in decades, writes Kenneth Blackwell. It
is also the most frontloaded. In each of the last four even year general
elections gun owners have had a massive impact. And the National Rifle
Association has proven to everyone that if you want to win the presidency,
earning the support of gun owners and Second Amendment defenders might be the
deciding factor
http://www.nysun.com/article/63517
07/09/27 RUDY'S GUN SELLOUT A SORRY PANDER TO THE NRA -- WHEN Rudy Giuliani spoke to the National Rifle
Association last week, there was no way he could say anything remotely pleasing
to the audience and remain consistent to his record. The former mayor was one
of the NRA's biggest targets in the 1990s, and for good reason: His positions
were largely indistinguishable from the
07/09/26
U.S. Attorney Michael
Sullivan fielded some tough questions about gun laws, but he also won praise at
a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to become director of the federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sullivan, a former
Republican state legislator and district attorney, was nominated by President
Bush for the job in March. He has been acting director of the agency for more
than a year. http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/politics/view.bg?articleid=1034375
07/09/26 A new report
released by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation demonstrates that by any measure,
These latest figures
demonstrate that season after season, hunters and anglers drive the economy
from big business to rural towns, through booms and recessions. They
directly support 1.6 million jobs, which is twice as many jobs as the combined
civilian payrolls of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps
http://www.sportsmenslink.org/programs/Report/release.html
07/09/26 Gun advocates claim they are not 'nuts.' The Second Amendment Students of Utah want to change
what they call myths about firearms. "The biggest (misconception) is
people who think that anyone who would like to have a gun is kind of nuts -- an
unintelligent hillbilly," said Brent Tenney,
president of the club.
07/09/25 Fort Cherry Schools Will Have Armed
Police Officer
McDONALD, Pa. -- The Fort Cherry school board voted Monday to
allow a police officer to arm himself with a gun on the small, rural school
district's campus. Officer Harold Purdy has patrolled
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/14199977/detail.html
07/09/25 Shootout in garage VICTORVILLE — Roger Gilchrist woke from a dead sleep when he
heard his pregnant wife screaming for her life as she honked her car horn
incessantly in their garage. He grabbed his gun. It wasn’t 20 seconds after his
wife pulled in and saw a masked gunman standing near her vehicle that gunfire
erupted at point-blank range, the couple said. http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/gilchrist_2986___article.html/wife_finney.html
07/09/24 Judge: Conceal-Carry Law 'Unconstitutional'
In Shooting MILWAUKEE -- Charges were
dropped Monday morning against a Milwaukee pizza delivery man accused of
shooting two would-be robbers, and in a 10-page statement, the judge said
Wisconsin's law forbidding the carriage of a concealed weapon, as it pertains
to this case, was unconstitutional. http://www.wisn.com/news/14195904/detail.html?rss=mil&psp=news
07/09/24 Police Apologize To Gun Owner For Stopping
Him KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -
Knoxville's police chief has apologized to a gun owner who was stopped by an
officer for legally taking a Colt handgun inside a Wal-Mart. Trevor Putnam
works with guns every day as vice president of Coal Creek Armory in West
Knoxville, and he has a permit to carry a weapon. But Officer Glenn Todd Greene
frisked and threatened to arrest Putnam back in June when he took his handgun
into Wal-Mart. After an internal investigation, Greene was given a written
reprimand and remedial training for rudeness and for not knowing the law.
Putnam got a written apology from the police chief.
http://www.wpsdtv.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=e6da11f4-5561-4d59-a047-4a47ae3f8c21
07/09/24 Gun ordinance illegal anyway "
07/09/23 Colorful firearms pop up to attract women
hunters As Gary Goessner,
his buddy and their two pre-teen daughters shopped the Gander Mountain store
hunting department in Waukesha Friday afternoon, the two girls were immediately
drawn to a rifle and a youth shotgun. But it wasn't the firepower of the guns
that attracted the girls' attention. It was a color: Call it blaze pink. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=666096
07/09/22 KY: Protest planned next month against campus
policy banning guns A group of
07/09/22 Fred Thompson: Hotter Than a Pistol It was a not-so-subtle jab
directed at Rudy Giuliani, whose past support of gun-control laws raises
concern among members of the heavily Republican gun group.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09222007/news/nationalnews/fred_hotter_than_pistol.htm
07/09/21 Robbery Victim Turns Tables on Bandit -
07/09/20 International Police Chiefs Advocate
More Gun Control
An international organization
of law enforcement executives has called on the
However, a pro-gun advocate said the group's recommendations show that its
members need to "shut up and do their jobs." http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200709/NAT20070921a.html
07/09/20 Student says he accidentally brought gun to
school after target shooting at home.
07/09/20 Police chiefs blast gun show loophole The International Association of Chiefs of Police
issued a report Wednesday that calls for stronger gun laws and urges law
enforcement agencies to better educate the public about gun violence and to
form more partnerships with public health officials in preventing
firearms-related deaths. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332417_guns20.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/243811.html
07/09/19 Gun
store owner pulls gun, foils robbery
A
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07262/818763-100.stm
07/09/19
The Maryland State Police are requiring people who want to buy firearms to sign
a release allowing authorities to check whether they have ever resided in a
state mental health institution for 30 days or more. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-md.guns19sep19,0,40249.story
07/09/19 Teacher fights to take gun to class An
07/09/19 Tens Of Thousands Of
CCTV Cameras, Yet 80% Of Crime Unsolved
07/09/18
07/09/18 Residents Know Their Rights, But Are A
Bit Hazy On The Details
Monday was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution at the
Constitutional Convention in
http://newsminer.com/2007/09/18/8932
07/09/18
Pennsylvania Sued By Sportsmen Again Over Its Deer Hunting Policy
For the second time in two years, the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania has
filed a lawsuit it hopes will derail the Game Commission’s controversial
deer-management plan and allow the state`s whitetail
population to expand.
http://www.mcall.com/sports/outdoors/all-lawsuit0918.6039654sep18,0,5586678.story
07/09/18
07/09/17 Authorities:
07/09/17 Students aim to form club that promotes gun
ownership Friends and roommates,
juniors Andrew Breza and Ken Stauff
share an interest in Second Amendment rights and range shooting. After a failed
attempt two years ago to start the GW Gunslingers, the pair began organizing
the Colonial Militia, a group concerned with gun rights advocacy and shooting
for pleasure. "We chose (the name)
Colonial Militia to knock on the Colonial Army, but also the militia is
basically what won this country," Stauff said.
"We are the Colonials here, so why not expand upon that?"
07/09/17 Department Of Justice Highlights Achievements
Under Project Safe Neighborhoods - The Department of Justice highlighted the
significant accomplishments of federal, state and local officials in combating
gang violence and reducing gun crime through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN)
before more than 1,000 members of PSN task forces from across the nation in
Atlanta today.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/September/07_ag_722.html
07/09/16 EDITORIAL: It's about how the gun is used The age and historic import
of a gun is not the issue when it comes to controls; its capacity for harm
is. We encourage lawmakers to weave this
truth into future discussions on the subject here in
07/09/15 Our Honorable Hunters And The
Pain-In-The-Butt Tree Huggers
Regnery
Publishing is about to further bury the loons on the Left with its latest
installment in the Politically Incorrect Guide series. Who’s
in the crosshairs this time in this destined to be best-selling tome, you ask? Writes Doug Giles. Well, honey, it is the frothy and
paranormal twinkies on the left who hate hunting and
hunters and spread lies about us and the important role hunting plays within
the world we live.
07/09/14 John R. Lott Jr.: D.C. Handgun Ban - Fox News
Is banning handguns a "reasonable regulation"? The
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296724,00.html
07/09/14 Owner Sleeping In Gas Station Over Crimes
Surprises, Kills Intruder 'One Way Or
Another, He Had To Go Down,' Says Business Owner PINE HILLS, Fla. -- A gas
station owner in Central Florida who was sleeping in his business after a rash
of crimes in the area shot and killed a man trying to break into his store
early Friday morning, according to sheriff's deputies. Investigators said
someone apparently began to break into the Citgo gas
station located at the corner of
07/09/13
07/09/13
07/09/13
Police: Disney Worker Traveled To Have Sex With 14-Year-Old Girl
Disney will fire an employee, immediately, for a having a legal firearm in
his/her private vehicle for self-defense and other lawful purposes while parked
in a public access parking lot, but protects the job of a pedophile who has
been arrested by the FBI on child-pornography charges.
http://www.local6.com/news/14111786/detail.html
07/09/12 Three
High-Ranking Mexican Officers Arrested At Phoenix Gun Show - Three high-ranking Mexican police officers were
arrested over the weekend for buying weapons at a gun show in Phoenix in
violation of a law barring non-citizens from purchasing firearms, a federal
official said Wednesday.
http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9f7cb369-d340-4159-b801-6f19753b3676
07/09/12 Kids Told To Remove Tiny Rifles From
07/09/12 The War On Deadly Mascots- Roanoke Times
Buena Vista’s
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/wb/xp-131653
07/09/12 New
Gun Laws Wouldn`t Solve Cleveland`s
Crime Problem - Plain Dealer
Columbus Mayor Frank Jackson received intense criticism for keeping mum as
bullets whizzed through city streets and claimed innocent lives this summer. On
Monday, he took a very public stand to try to curb violence and prevent young
thugs from brandishing guns. But even if his proposal had a chance of becoming
state law--and, make no mistake, it is DOA in
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1189586458312150.xml&coll=2
07/09/12 Kids often have access to guns inside homes Survey of parents with firearms finds majority don't
keep them, shells locked up separately. Usually, it's the small children who
accidentally shoot themselves or someone else with a parent's gun who make the
big headlines. The teens who commit suicide with a family gun tend to attract
less attention in many communities.
Either way, though, the guns have to be accessible. And the results of a
recent survey of gun-owning parents that was carried out in pediatricians'
offices across the
07/09/12 Mexican Officers Arrested at Gun Show PHOENIX (AP) — Three high-ranking Mexican police officers
were arrested on allegations of buying weapons and ammunition at a gun show in
Phoenix in violation of a law barring non-citizens from purchasing firearms, a
U.S. official saidWednesday. The three had crossed the border at
07/09/11
07/09/11 OR:
Teacher demands to carry gun in school
A Medford high school teacher is arguing she has the right to carry a concealed
semiautomatic pistol to her classes to protect herself from a violent
ex-husband in a case certain to set off alarm bells in schools across the
state. There is no appellate law in
What is murky in the law is whether
school districts can stop employees from carrying concealed weapons onto school
property. Most
07/09/10 2nd Amendment protects the citizen’s right to
own guns but not to own bullets.
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MikeSAdams/2007/09/10/soc_357_the_sociology_of_ballistic_idiocy
07/09/08 Wouldn’t You Feel Safer With A Gun? -
Despite the recent spate of shootings on our streets, we pride ourselves on our
strict gun laws, writes Richard Munday for the London
Times. Every time an American gunman goes on a killing spree, we shake our
heads in righteous disbelief at our poor benighted colonial cousins. Why is it,
even after the Virginia Tech massacre, that Americans still resist calls for
more gun controls? The short answer is that gun controls do not work: they are
indeed generally perverse in their effects.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article2409817.ece
07/09/05 Control Criminals But Not Firearms - Washington Times
Just what is it that makes people of a liberal persuasion willing to lay down
and die to protect the First Amendment of our Constitution freedom of speech,
press and assembly but also not have a problem trampling the Second Amendment,
which gives people the right to keep and bear arms? asks
Gene Mueller. http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070905/SPORTS09/109050076/1005/SPORTS
07/09/05 D.C. Gun Case May Hit
Those who would do away with
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-guns_wed1sep05,0,3684121.story
07/09/05 High Murder Rates in Cities with Large Black
Populations. Last year, among the
nation's 10 largest cities,
07/09/03 Gun Ownership Said To
Professor Keith Krause, program director of the Small Arms Survey at the
Graduate Institute of International Studies in
http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070903/FOREIGN/109030020/1003
07/09/02 Man Charged After Washington Co. Shooting A Langeloth man apparently
intent on stopping two teenagers from trying to rob him for the second time in
just a few weeks is in Washington County Jail on charges including attempted
homicide after allegedly shooting one of the boys in the back early Saturday.
http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/09_02_shooting
http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_244165917.html
07/08/30 DIALLO COP SHOT DOWN AGAIN IN BID FOR GUN
A cop involved in the
infamous shooting death of Amadou Diallo
isn't entitled to get his gun back, a federal judge has ruled. Kenneth Boss,
acquitted of criminal charges and cleared of wrongdoing by the NYPD Firearms
Discharge Review Board, said in his
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08302007/news/regionalnews/diallo_cop_shot_down_again_in_.htm
07/08/28 Most state-run gun ranges closed till
October for toxic lead removal
Recreational shooters and
hunters hoping to sight their guns at state-run shooting ranges in southwestern
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07240/812655-85.stm
07/08/20 Armed for first day of school
Hundreds of thousands of
students had their first day of school on Monday. Some of them had to learn to
carry guns and be prepared to shoot -- polar bears
Students on the Arctic
archipelago of
Although no one wants to
shoot a polar bear, and they're indeed protected by national law, the huge
white animals can quickly outrun a human. And humans don't have a chance if
confronted by an aggressive bear.
So everyone on
For more information on FOAC
efforts to ‘Protect YOUR Rights’, donating to or becoming a
member of FOAC please click on this link: http://www.foac-pac.org/
Firearms Owners Against Crime is a registered
political action committee dedicated to representing gun owners and sportsmen
interests throughout
For More Information--phone 412-221-3346.
The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms
in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned.
A well-regulated
militia, being necessary to the security of a
FAIR USE NOTICE: This newsletter may contain, or link to, copyrighted material the use of which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of Constitutional rights, environmental, conservation, political, human rights, economic, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml