Firearms Owners Against Crime
“The
constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the
people; that . . . it is their right and duty to be at all times armed. . . .” Letter
from Thomas Jefferson to Justice John Cartwright (June
5, 1824), 16 WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
45 (A.A. Lipscomb ed., 1907).
E-Newsletter & FOAC
Meeting Notice
March 9, 2008
Meeting Agenda Issues:
Chris Voccio (Rep.) Candidate for PA House of Representatives-72nd District
Tim Krieger (Rep.) Candidate for PA House of Representatives-57th District
9.0 New Business
9.1
Board
of Director Elections
9.2
Questionnaire
deployment
9.3
Anti-Gun
Group Developments
9.4
Philadelphia
Mayor and Council Plans to Control Guns
9.5
Pro-Gun
Agenda Developments
9.6
Political
Events Review and Summary
9.7
2008
Banquet Plan Developments
9.8
Membership
committee developments
9.9
PGOA
Communication –
Federal issues:
9.10
Heller
v. D.C. Court Case Arguments Scheduled for March
Events:
**Upcoming Banquet—ACSL: March 8th (Guest Speaker—Attorney General Tom Corbett)
**Upcoming Sport Show: March 29th & 30th (Laurel Highland Event Center-Westmoreland Mall)
**Upcoming Banquet—FOAC: April 6th (Greentree Radisson)
FOAC - 2008
Meeting Schedule
Jan 13, 2nd Sunday, Feb
10, 2nd Sunday, Mar 9, 2nd Sunday, Apr 13, 2nd Sunday, May 4, 1st Sunday, Jun 8, 2nd Sunday, Jul 13, 2nd Sunday, Aug 10, 2nd Sunday, Sep 14,
2nd Sunday, Oct 12, 2nd Sunday, Nov
2, 1st Sunday, Dec 14, 2nd
Sunday
**Time of Meeting: 10:00 AM
**Location:
****Coffee and Donuts will be
provided
***Primary Election – Apr. 22
***General Election – Nov. 4
Showdown in Supreme Court set for March
18th
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
It may become the longest 90 minutes in American history: the amount of time scheduled Mar. 18 for the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the meaning and intent of the Second Amendment is on the line.
Attorneys representing plaintiff Dick Heller and the District of Columbia (DC), and Solicitor General Paul Clement will each get 30 minutes before the nine justices to present their arguments. A ruling is expected in June, and attorney Alan Gura, who will argue the gun rights case for Heller, told Gun Week that this is probably the biggest case before the high court this year, and as a result, the ruling may not be issued until the court's final day this session.
"The big ones, they wait until
the end," Gura said.
"They want to have plenty of time to consider the case."
It was the same way several years ago when the Supreme Court waited until its final day to hand down the ruling that found part of the Brady Gun Control Law unconstitutional.
It is likely the arguments will be presented before a packed audience, but only the attorneys will be permitted to speak. During the 30-minute presentation by each attorney, justices will ask questions about key points, Gura said.
Attorney Walter Dellinger will argue DC's case, which seeks to uphold a 32-year-old handgun ban in the city, and also contends that the Second Amendment does not affirm an individual right, but only a collective right of the states to organize militias. That has also been the position of gun control organizations including the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Gun rights organizations, including
the Second:• Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, Citizens
Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Gun Owners of America have
filed amicus curiae briefs in the case. Additionally, 55
Attorneys general in 31 states, including Texas, Washington, Florida, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Michigan, throughout the South and along the Great Lakes and Ohio River valley agree that the handgun ban should be struck down, while attorneys general in New York, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland support the handgun ban.'
Attorneys general in
Clements' brief on behalf of the Bush Administration contends that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, but also argues that laws regulating firearms should be subject to a lower degree of scrutiny. The Clement brief wants the court to remand the '- case back to the appeals court, and also wants to protect all existing federal gun statutes.
The arguments come less than a month after USA Today published the results of a Gallup poll that found 73% of adult Americans believe the Second Amendment affirms an individual civil right, and that 91% of American gunowners insist that it is an individual right. The poll further showed that 63% of non- gunowners also believe it is an individual right. The survey was conducted Feb. 8-10 and contacted 1,016 adults with a 3% margin of error.
Dellinger will lead off the oral arguments, saving some of his 30 minutes for rebuttal. It is not yet clear who will follow, either Gura or Clement, but they will have a solid 30 minutes to present their arguments and answer questions from the justices.
The landmark case has been under
constant debate for months, essentially because it has the potential to alter
if not upend the political and judicial landscape regarding private gun ownership
in the
Conversely, gun rights advocates are hopeful for a ruling that upholds the individual right interpretation, as it will provide momentum to challenge those same restrictive gun laws.
An individual rights ruling will
reverse judicial attitudes about the right to keep and bear arms at the
appellate level. Federal appeals courts, including the 9th Circuit in
Gura told Gun Week that he has good feelings about his chances before the high court.
"I think it's a great case," he said, "and I think we're in great shape. I'm glad I don't have to be arguing the other side of it."
The ruling will come down at the height of the presidential campaign season as parties prepare for their nominating conventions this summer. It will bring the issue of gun rights to the fore in a campaign in which both sides have been doing everything possible to avoid the gun rights issue.
In recent months, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both considerably shifted earlier positions on gun rights, with both now insisting they support the Second Amendment as an individual right, but with "reasonable restrictions." Both Clinton and Obama have long records supporting restrictive gun control.
Ironically, the case has also caused the Bush Administration to soften its hardcore stand on the Second Amendment from the days when former Attorney General John Ashcroft made it the official Justice Department position that the amendment protects an individual right. With the Clements brief, the Administration now has taken the position that there is an individual right, but it is subject to "reasonable" regulation. The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
********Mark your calendars Now: April 7, 2008**********
Gunowners Help Needed To Stop
Throughout the Rendell
administration gun owners have been the misdirected focus of efforts to control
and stop crime. With the willing help of the
Now we ask your help again as it is
ONCE AGAIN TIME for gun owners to step up and let your voices be heard in the
halls of power in the
On Monday, April 7, 2008 the Second Amendment-Second to
None Rally in Harrisburg starts at 10AM in the rotunda (plan on
being there at 9:00am) to celebrate our constitutional right to bear arms and
to advance our mutual interests in freedom and legislation we have asked to be
introduced that would achieve those goals. We cannot get there without
your help! Up until now we've managed to show an increasing interest in
the direct involvement of gun owners with each prior rally building upon the
last. What we are looking for this time is a dramatic example of the
desire of citizens to protect the freedoms that are an inseparable part of our
heritage. We would like to see thousands of gun owners devote one day of
their time in an election year to coming to
This is an opportunity for all of
us to be able to say to those in
In the end it is all up to you as
to whether or not you believe this right is important enough to turn off the TV
or push away from the keyboard and learn how to really fix politics
because at this rally each one of you will have the opportunity to join in the
team that goes around and personally makes a political statement to each
legislative office in the capital. This is a grassroots rally! It
is meant to be your presence that is important and that is why we are going to
show you how
Right now we have a slim majority
in the legislature who will act appropriately when gun control is brought
before them and the key leaders within this majority have worked tirelessly to
set up this rally and to advance and promote legislation that will achieve
those goals. This is a pivotal moment in
Please join with us on April 7 and we look forward to working with all of you!
**Here is how the events will unfold on April 7th:
9:00AM Sign up, get your
second amendment badges, and organize into groups under team leadership. Getting
gun owners organized is a lot like herding cats or stacking marbles on a moving
ship in the ocean.
10:00AM Press Conference with legislators and second amendment leaders (lasting approximately about 1 hour).
11:00AM After the press conference everyone will break up into smaller groups under team leadership. Your team leader will take you to specifically assigned state reps so that all 203 of them will hear from gun owners all across the state. Once these assigned legislators are visited then each team will float to other Representatives in the Senate and House including the personal representative of each attendee. The biggest issue is that ALL 203 Reps and 50 Senators hear from gun owners, especially the anti-gun legislators that introduce these bills intended to strip your rights away. Your team leader will break around lunch time, after lunch meet up with your team leader to finish up. We plan these legislative lobbying events to run between 9am and 3pm.
You can help even further by doing the following:
Download the flier, print lots of copies, take it to your gun clubs and post it, take it your local gun stores have them post it as well, email all of your gun owning friends and relatives, let the word go far and wide across PA -- shout it loudly so that everyone knows the Second Amendment Is Second to None. Also visit the ACSL & PFSC websites and view the list of proposed firearm laws pending in Harrisburg. (Courtesy of ACSL Legislative Committee)
CONSERVATIVES FOR OBAMA
By Dennis Pavlik
February 28, 2008
CopyRight All Rights Reserved
The fictional Sherlock Holmes once said: “When you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left must be the truth no matter how improbable.” In this year’s presidential race all of the conservatives have been eliminated. I would recommend Mike Huckabee, as an acceptable alternative to the remaining field but fear it is too late for him to be elected. This leaves three candidates: John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, one of whom will be president: As a conservative, I pick Obama.
When I pick a president I evaluate three criteria: What are their policies on issues important to me; How will they lead the debate and other elected officials; And their effectiveness in implementing their policies.
Consider John McCain. He introduced and spearheaded McCain/Feingold
– The bill to silence grassroots activists and put the process in the hands of
the political elite, big donors, and liberal media. He indicated a favorable leaning toward
reintroducing the “Fairness Doctrine” which would eliminate the conservative
voices from the airwaves. He worked
diligently for Amnesty to Illegal Aliens and against border security. He is supporting “Hillary Light” socialized
medicine. He was against the Bush tax
cuts and simply doesn’t understand that you can lower tax rates and increase
revenue simultaneously.
For you conservative Pennsylvanians
– McCain is to the
McCain will be effective in getting his agenda through Congress. He knows how to use power and punish those that threaten. I believe a McCain presidency will destroy the conservative movement. His election would establish a low bar for the Republican Party – Simply put: All you gotta be is a little to the right of the leftists and they have to vote for you. The Republicans in Congress will have to support their president, so coupled with the Liberal Democrats he will be able to get his Globalist agenda passed. McCain is the slow boat to a Socialist America.
Now look at Hillary. Her policies are right out of the Socialist playbook. She is a jet plane to socialism. Like McCain she promotes socialized medicine, global warming, control of the economy, and banning your right to self-defense. She supports open borders and Amnesty to Illegals. She is for a faster surrender to the terrorists than McCain. Hillary’s masquerade as a middle of the roader would allow her to be a very effective president and advance her agenda. She demonstrated this to my satisfaction in her role as fixer in her husband’s administration. I believe she would use the full power of the government – like the IRS and FBI to destroy her political enemies. The Democrats will back her as the Republicans would back McCain.
This leaves Obama – He is the
rocket ship or “Star-gate” to the Socialist takeover of
In 1996 I was at a World Federalist Association Dinner. The speaker told the audience the presidential election was over, they won. Stop any efforts on that race and concentrate on the Congressional Races and continue establishing their agenda in the social fabric (schools, media, social organizations). I commented that it appears they had written off Dole and were confident of a Clinton Victory. The speaker said they hadn’t written off Dole, it’s that he is a Globalist as well as Clinton, just a slow boat compared to a jet plane, both are going to the same port.
Sun Tzu said if you present the enemy with only bad choices so he is forced to choose the lesser of defeats, you will have ultimate victory. This is what our enemies understand. This is the dilemma we are in. Unfortunately the presidential race is over. We have only evil to choose from. This is why we must write off our losses, choose the lesser of the evils, Obama. And concentrate on battles we can win.
© Copyright 2008, Dennis Pavlik, All Rights Reserved R7
(The
above article represents the private personal views of Dennis Pavlik and does
not represent any official position of FOAC regarding the upcoming Presidential
race. The material presented herein is
submitted to all gun owners for informational purposes and to educate gun
owners on the wildly varied views that currently exists regarding these
candidates in the public domain. As
always it is our position that we respect the right of each citizen to decide
on a candidate based on their own values and beliefs!)
Obama, Clinton say they support lawful
gun use, but with limits
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
Democrat juggernaut Barack Obama, the less-than-one-term senator from Illinois who, when he served in that state's legislature supported stiff gun laws and a handgun ban, now insists he supports the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms... "for the purposes of hunting and target shooting."
It's right there near the top of his BarackObama.com campaign website, where he insists that if he is elected president, he will "will provide state game and fish agencies with additional resources and encouragement to reach out to young men and women to educate them about hunting and fishing opportunities, hunter safety, and the basic principles of fish and wildlife management.
Obama, who admits that he "did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America's hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sport," has reportedly backed off—at least for the duration of the campaign— positions he took as an Illinois state senator in which he supported a ban on the sale or transfer of "all forms of semiautomatic weapons" and legislation that would "increase state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms."
He did not favor "allowing citizens to carry concealed firearms" and he would "require manufacturers to provide child- safety locks with firearms." This information was gathered by a Project Vote Smart questionnaire.
While Obama has largely avoided the gun issue, as has Sen. Hillary Clinton, during the campaign, that may change abruptly when the Supreme Court rules later this year on the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the challenge to the Washington, DC, handgun ban that will clarify the meaning of the Second Amendment.
Obama's campaign website insists that if he becomes president, he will work to expand access to places to hunt and fish. He supports the Open Fields Incentives legislation that "provides incentives to farmers and ranchers who voluntarily open their land to hunting, fishing and other wildlife-related activities."
Serious questions remain in the gun
rights community about Obama's sincerity on gun rights and hunting issues,
considering his lengthy track record and previous positions on firearms
ownership. According to a Dec. 22, 2007 story in USA Today, Obama, who hails
from the
However, he insists that
"reasonable restrictions" on the possession of handguns are feasible,
and he has maintained that the handgun ban in
When he served in the
On his website there is a statement about Obama's "respect" for the Second Amendment.
"Millions of hunters own and use guns each year," his statement reads. "Millions more participate in a variety of shooting sports such as sporting clays, skeet, target and trap shooting that may not necessarily involve hunting. As a former constitutional law professor, Barack Obama understands and believes in the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms. He will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns for the purposes of hunting and target shooting."
There is not a word about self-defense, or the right to protect one's property, or right-to-carry laws.
Meanwhile, The Washington Bureau
Mouth of the Potomac reported that
That came up in the Q-and-A session after a woman asked about dealing with shootings such as the NIU shooting
She went on to propose:
"I believe we really should
have a summit where everybody comes together on all sides of this issue,"
Ammo registration proposed in 10 states
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
Controversial ammunition coding
legislation introduced in at least 10 states that gun rights activists believe
will lead to creation of de facto state handgun registries can be traced to a
consulting firm in
Four anti-gun Democrat lawmakers in the Ever- green State are backing legislation that would require all pistol ammunition sold there to be coded begin- ning on Jan. 1, 2010.
Virtually identical legislation has been introduced by five anti-gun Democrats in the Arizona legislature, and the Washington state-based consulting firm Gordon Thomas Honeywell is offering "model lan- guage" for this legislation. The technology is being promoted as "a modern crime fighting tool." A note at the bottom of the draft legislation states, "Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs can also provide drafting guidance."
Gun Week contacted Briahna Taylor, a governmen- tal affairs consultant with Gordon Thomas Honeywell, but she referred us to Steve Mace, presi- dent of Ammunition Coding System (ACS), the Seattle-based firm that now has a patent pending on this bullet coding technology. Ultimately, we were contacted by Russ Ford, ACS vice president for research and development.
The Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs website lists ACS as one of its clients.
The same model bill language used
in
Ford said he and his partners
developed the original language for the sample statute, working "closely
with some legislators and a lobbyist, a retired deputy sheriff in
"The basic premise of the bill came out of Califor- nia," he said, adding that Gordon Thomas Honeywell had polished the language.
Anti-gun Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) recently introduced "The National Crime Gun Identification Act," which would mandate gun microstamping in all 50 states.
Coding and microstamping,
ACS acknowledges on its website that "The implementation of the ACS technology will require legislation to establish an ammunition sale database. In those states that have already developed and implemented bar-coding systems that include driver's licenses and other forms of identification, the integration of a database system to record ammunition sales will be relatively simple and inexpensive to implement."
Ford told Gun Week that his motivation for pushing this technology is to separate responsible firearms owners from people who are misusing guns.
He also acknowledged that "our ultimate goal is to license the technology" to ammunition companies. Both he and Mace have other jobs, and the ammunition coding venture actually involves four friends, including him and Mace, who attended high school together. All are gunowners, Ford said.
He claimed that tests conducted a couple of years ago showed that laser etching can be done very fast, so that it would not slow down ammunition assembly lines.
In a "Q&A" link on the ACS website, the company insists that ammunition coding does not violate the Second Amendment, nor does it amount to a "backdoor gun registration scheme."
The ACS website explains that, "State and federal legislative proposals to implement ACS would be based upon the existing firearm dealer licensing and gun tracing statutes enacted by Congress in 1968. The United States Supreme Court has, on numerous occasions, affirmed the constitutionality of the licensing and tracing provisions of the current federal law.
"Moreover, even the National Rifle Association supports the privacy protections contained in federal gun tracing regulations," ACS stated.
However, that does not mean the NRA supports cartridge etching. The NRA and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, both oppose cartridge coding legislation.
"Legislation could be carefully drafted to insure that any information acquired under an ACS program could not be used to single out gunowners or function as a gun registration scheme. When a bullet or cartridge case is recovered at a crime scene, only duly authorized law enforcement agencies would have access to ACS bullet coding information. The ACS 'trace' would be completed using the same proven methods used by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies today in conducting crime gun traces. Only minimal personal identifying information is necessary to make ACS technology work (less personal information than is disclosed under normal circumstances by a person making a purchase by credit card or check)."
Activists Disagree
Many gun rights activists don't see it that way, however. Heated discussions about the legislation have erupted on both TheHighRoad.org and KeepAndBearArms.com Internet gun rights forums.
Some directed their wrath at Democrats, whose party has traditionally pushed gun control schemes while New Jersey gun rights activist Michael Everall suggested that all of these bills are being promoted "by a single vendor as a commercial enterprise; in effect using (state legislators) as their sales force (without paying them)."
Ford acknowledged that "We are decidedly in favor of recouping our investment in this. We are a for-profit enterprise... and we would like to turn a profit someday."
He said that Taylor, the consultant, had screened some nasty reactions from angry gunowners who have left threatening and/or obscene messages for ACS.
Ford insisted that the registration of ammunition purchases into a data base would not threaten anyone's gun rights. He scoffed at the notion that anti-gun politicians might one day introduce legislation holding gunowners responsible if ammunition they purchased that was later stolen, might subsequently be used in a crime. Similar laws have been pushed to hold gunowners responsible if their firearms were stolen and misused.
He said criminals steal cars, often out of rental lots, to later be used in crimes, and nobody holds the rental companies responsible for that.
"What ammunition coding technology does and only does is provide a possible lead for law enforcement to follow," Ford stated.
Besides, he asserted, "Gun registration already exists in this country, you know it, I know it."
Sponsoring HB-3359 in
Under provisions of their bill, the
State Department of Licensing would establish and maintain a central ammunition
database containing a registry of all pistol ammunition retailers who sell,
offer for sale, loan, distribute or otherwise transfer pistol ammunition within
the
Coded Ammunition
Every round of handgun ammunition sold in the state would have to be coded with an alphanumeric code etched to the inside of the cartridge case and the base of the bullet. The same number would be printed on the cartridge box, and every buyer of pistol ammunition would have to provide a driver's license or other identification, which would be recorded by the seller. The buyer's date of birth would also be recorded, along with the date of the transaction.
Sellers who do not comply with the procedures or who sell non-coded ammunition would be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Meanwhile, in the
If passed, the law would take effect Jan. 1, 2009.
It would require that a unique serial number be etched or stamped on the bullet and inside each cartridge case of all calibers of handgun ammunition and cartridges for so-called assault weapons. Under this bill, the Arizona Department of Public Safety would maintain the ammunition records, and gunowners in the state would have until Jan. 1, 2011 to dispose of all current ammunition without the stamps.
In order for the
Funding to pay for the creation of state databases would come from a half-, cent "user fee" on each cartridge, which gun activists swiftly identified as an ammunition use tax.
"I understand people's frustrations with legislation," Ford admitted.
But he added that, "We, as firearms owners, everyday open up the newspaper, listen to radio, watch television and get news flashes about overwhelming misuse of firearms by people who are not going to attend legislative hearings and not vote on the issues and not be part of the process....As responsible gun owners we need to stand up and say 'it isn't us.' "
Continuing to stress that
law-abiding gunowners have nothing, to fear from coded ammunition mandates,
Ford offered a challenge to his critics: "Where in
"Coded ammunition puts me in the pond of people that will never be considered a suspect," he said. "That's all this really does."
Through the interview, Ford continued to acknowledge that profit is also a motivating factor.
"Certainly, we're a non-profit organization and we'd really like to have that changed," he said. The New GUN WEEK, March 1, 2008
NIU shooting renews focus on campus CCW
Following the tragic St. Valentine's Day shooting on the campus of Northern Illinois University (NIU), the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence launched a campaign demanding "strong gun laws," evidently ignoring the fact that the shooting occurred in a gun-free campus zone, in a state with some of the toughest gun laws in the nation.
Just as quickly, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCKRBA), issued a blistering statement to the press, calling gun-free zones a "giant loophole in public safety (that) is becoming a national disgrace."
"It is time to dramatically change our perspective on self-defense in this country," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M Gottlieb.
Gunman Steve Kazmierczak, 27, reportedly off his medication, purchased two of the four guns he carried onto the NIU campus just six days before the shooting, passing the mandatory Brady background check, and was in possession of a mandatory Illinois Firearms Owners Identification (FOID) card.
Perhaps most important, he had no criminal record or recorded history of mental illness that would have prohibited him from legally purchasing firearms.
Kazmierczak, whose mother died in
2006 and whose father lives in
It appeared that the gunman walked onto a stage in a lecture hall and fired at least 54 rounds, including 6 from a shotgun and 48 rounds from at least one or two of the handguns. He did stop to reload at least once, according to various published reports.
In all, 6 people were killed, including the gunman, who committed suicide.
After erroneous early reports, Kazmierczak used guns that were ultimately identified by Kevin Cronin, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as a Glock and Sig Sauer, both chambered in 9mm, and a Hi-Point, chambered in .380 ACP, along with a Remington Model 870 pump shotgun.
Cronin also had this to say: "The shooter was not prohibited in any way from purchasing firearms and as far as we know it was a lawful purchase."
ABC, quoting unidentified law
enforcement sources, indicated that
Gottlieb took a far different
approach to the shooting, focusing on the "gun-free zone" aspect of
the shooting and on the fact that
"Gun-free zones have given us
nothing but body counts," he said. "
Gottlieb said it is time "for
Paul gun bills would abolish ‘gun free
zones’
Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) has sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to all members of the House of Representatives asking them to support three gun rights bills he is championing.
Paul urged his fellow representatives to back his bills, which he said "address the dangers created by federal gun free zones."
"When lives are in danger, people must often defend themselves and their loved ones. Unfortunately, the federal government has created gun free zones that impede our ability to defend ourselves and the ones we love," Paul wrote. "I invite you to cosponsor three bills that address the dangers created by federal gun free zones."
The three bills Paul is sponsoring are HR-2424, the Citizens Protection Act, that provides for the repeal of provisions of the federal criminal code that prohibit the possession of a firearm in a school zone; HR-1897, the National Park Second Amendment Restoration and Personal Protection Act that prohibits any federal regulation from restricting any individual from possessing or carrying a firearm if that restriction is based upon the fact that the individual is in a unit of the National Park System, and HR- 3305, the Anti-Terrorism Act, that provides that no federal agency shall prohibit an airline pilot, copilot, navigator, or law enforcement person specifically detailed for protection of an aircraft, from carrying a firearm.
In addition to currently running
for reelection to his 14th District congressional seat in the
‘Castle doctrine’ bill passes, sent to
WV governor
Senate Bill 145,
SB-145 would permit law-abiding citizens to use force, including deadly force, against an attacker in their homes and any places outside of their home where they have a legal right to be. It is clearly stated that there is no duty to retreat from an attacker, allowing law-abiding citizens to stand their ground to protect themselves and their family.
SB-145 also protects individuals from civil lawsuits by the attacker or the attacker's family when force is used. The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
by Bob Barr
Most police officers with whom I
have worked over the years—whether as a
The police department in that
On the surface—as with virtually
all government actions diminishing liberty—the initiative appears benign. The
program is "designed" to help parents who have so little control over
their children that they cannot—or do not want to—search their rooms to
discover if their young charges are hiding firearms in their homes.
The program is problematic on
several levels. First, of course, is the fact that three police officers showing
up on your doorstep makes it very difficult for a parent or "other
responsible adult" to say no when asked to consent to a search. This works
a serious injustice to the notion that a person's home is and should remain
free from government searches absent a warrant based on probable cause that a
crime has been committed. While true, voluntary "consent" can
validate an otherwise unlawful, warrantless search, consent born of the sort of
police presence contemplated in this
While the police in
Interestingly also, literature
describing the initiative states that while the searching officers will do
their dead level best not to damage property or create an "unnecessary
mess" in the searches, there is no guarantee against that. Moreover, if
other illegal items are found or seen during the search, this may lead to a
resident's arrest. And while the police in
The bottom line is, if the police in Boston or any other city have probable cause to believe illegal firearms or other evidence of unlawful activity is located in a home, they ought to investigate and—if armed with a warrant based on probable cause—search that home. But to go through this charade of searching without securing warrants, under the guise of obtaining "consent" of persons who may or may not be the parents of a child, under the transparently false premise that nothing will happen to them if they refuse or if something unlawful is found, is unfair and constitutionally deficient.
There's a reason such programs have
not been instituted in other cities (a similar program was launched in
This column first appeared in The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Feb. 27, 2008. Former congressman and US Attorney
Bob Barr practices law in
Press exploits NIU shooting; campus CCW
debate erupts
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
The debate still lingers over the
safety of college and university campuses across The country following the
February attack at
In a Feb. 19 attack, The Tuscaloosa
(AL) News editorialized that, "Most college campuses in the state ban
firearms. It would be a mistake if pressure from the National Rifle Asso6ation,
a personal love of hunting or even a sincere interest in protecting college
students and teachers influences
This was a somewhat odd remark, since the NRA remained pretty quiet following the shooting, though a spokesman did chide Chicago Mayor Richard Daley for showing "poor form" by pressing his anti-gun agenda following the shooting (see related story).
The Tuscaloosa newspaper lamented that Alabama state Sen. Hank Erwin (R, Montevallo) would be pushing, possibly with some success, his proposal to allow college professors and legally-licensed students to carry guns on campuses in that state.
"He sees the legislation as a deterrent," the newspaper stated. "But there is no evidence that suggests these bills would curb a murderously suicidal gunman."
"Meanwhile," the newspaper concluded, "the new safety concern that his legislation poses is considerable. More guns won't solve campus security problems."
The
Dean, described as an avid hunter who supports the NRA, told the newspaper that "simply having a gun does not make you proficient with that firearm...a firearm in the hands of an untrained person just creates more of a risk."
'No Guarantee'
Editor Helen Hocknell then wrote, "I am tired of hearing that Virginia Tech and the recent shooting at NIU would never have happened if only students were allowed to have guns on campus. Even if firearms were permitted in dorms and academic buildings, it's no guarantee that those choosing to carry a gun would a) be trained in how to use it, b) know how to react in such a stressful situation, and c) happen to have brought it with them at that particular time.
"As college students," she continued, "we are statistically more likely to binge drink and suffer from depression or other mental illnesses than many other age demographics. I see bar fights turning into fatal shootouts, and a distressed student making a rash and irreversible decision to end their life—this is not a crowd of people I want to see armed."
Yet another example of the anti-gun attitude that erupted on newspaper editorial pages surfaced in The Rapid City (SD) Journal. Editorializing against a measure before that state's legislature that would allow students and faculty to carry on campus, the newspaper stated, "While we sympathize with the desire for safety and security that Rep. Thin Brunner of Nisland and Sen. Dennis Schmidt of Rapid City, sponsors of HB-1261, think they are providing for college students, we contend that HB-1261 would make college campuses less safe, not more."
Subsequently, the editorial launched into rhetoric traditionally heard from opponents of concealed carry measures: "In dormitories, more guns will undoubt- edly mean more gun-related accidents, more suicides and more senseless tragedies brought about by immaturity, lack of judgment, impulsivity, alcohol consumption or mental illness."
But from the other side came voices like that of Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), and columnist John Longnecker. It was the latter who suggested Feb, 16 that students denied their right to defend themselves because of campus gun bans should sue the schools and their administrators,
"This would include suing for adminis- tration interference with self-defense by way of policy in cases of both gun and non-gun killings such as knifitigs, beatings and missing persons," Longnecker noted.
Longnecker lauded Fox News for looking at concealed carry on campus legitimately when other news organizations did not.
"What if students carried their handguns, were then disciplined, and sued the college," he asked. "With all the activity about concealed carry on campus, you can't say campuses weren't on notice that they could be interfering."
"Administrations have ignored and vexed citizen authority and its role," Longnecker wrote.
"The best way to handle the campus," he added, 'workplace, airport, public buildings or anywhere threat is not to profile shooters nor to arm the faculty, but to lift all gun bans from students, employees, parents and visitors. Citizen authority trumps stubborn tortious interference by trustees. They don't want you to know your own authority. So much for Education."
And Gottlieb, in an opinion piece that was circulated to newspapers around the country, said:
"The anti-self-defense extremists at the Brady Campaign–who have consistently battled common sense concealed carry laws that put law-abiding citizens on a level playing field with criminals and crazies–are real proud of themselves," Gottlieb wrote. "They should be begging forgiveness for the horrific crimes that occur in shopping malls, on college and university campuses and anywhere else that their hysteria and political demagoguery have prevented sensible right-to- carry statutes from being enacted.
"Gun-free zones are nothing more than government-enforced killing fields," he added, "all of them supported and defended by the gun control lobby...."
Capping things off was an editorial
from The Daily Telegram in
The editorial concluded with a view- point that gun rights activists would likely find refreshing from a daily newspaper: "Firearms are a constitution- ally protected part of American life. With an estimated 250 million guns in America, they will always be accessible to criminals Knee-jerk bans in response to massacres ensure only one thing — more unarmed victims for the next mass murderer in a 'gun-free zone'." The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
Mayor Richard Daley exploits NIU
shooting to push agenda
Claiming on one hand that he did
not want the tragedy of Northern Illinois University (NIU) to give momentum to
a gun control scheme, while The Chicago Sun-Times noted that he was "moved
by the shooting deaths of five students," anti-gun Chicago Mayor Richard
Daley launched what has become an annual attack on gun rights in
Days after the campus shooting that rocked the region, Daley unveiled a gun control agenda similar to his wish list from years past. He wants to ban .50 BMG caliber rifles and so-called assault weapons, limit handgun purchases to one per month, prohibit private firearms transactions without a background check and limit the capacity of ammunition magazines.
The Sun-Times noted, however, that state Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) "acknowledged that none of the bills would have prevented Steve Kazmierczak from opening fire on Valentine's Day afternoon in a crowded NIU lecture hall."
Daley failed to explain how a ban on .50-caliber long-range target rifles or semi-automatic sport-utility rifles— neither of which were used by the campus killer—might prevent such crimes in the future.
John Burtt with the Fifty Caliber
Institute told Gun Week that the big bore rifles are not used in crimes.
Indeed, so rarely are these guns linked to crimes that Burtt could only
identify two incidents in which one of the rifles was involved. One of those incidents
was an armored car robbery involving an off- duty
Burtt said arguments by anti-gunners that these firearms "could" be used by terrorists and criminals is just rhetoric with no basis in fact.
Daley also wants to mandate trigger locks on firearms in homes where guns might be accessible to anyone under age 18, and he would also like to see microstamping required for semi-auto pistols.
Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, disdained Daley's effort.
But Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, was ready to throw down the gauntlet. Noting that Daley's agenda hasn't really changed in the past several years, Gottlieb accused the mayor of "dancing in the blood" of the slain university students just to revive his gun control shopping list.
And Gottlieb said Daley knows none of his proposals would have prevented the NIU attack.
Gottlieb insisted that voters and
even rural Democrats outside of Daley's "sphere of influence" in
upstate
"The time has come for a new
strategy," Gottlieb observed. "Americans want change, and they want
it now. Lawmakers should pass a progressive concealed carry law in
One of three purse snatching
suspects in
According to The Daily Evening Standard
in
When Correia went downstairs, he grabbed a .45-caliber pistol and tucked it into the rear of his pants.
Grover, according to the newspaper account, was kind of a mess, with wet clothes, one shoe missing, and he was bleeding from an injury that apparently happened when he broke through the ice. Correia allowed the youth into his home to call for help, but became suspicious when. Grover kept changing his story. The alert homeowner called police.
That's when Grover's luck took a sharp turn southward. Indeed, the police were looking for this guy and two others. When Grover reportedly jumped up from his chair, the homeowner pulled his pistol and told his guest to sit right back down there because the posse was coming.
Moments later, the news report said, eight patrol cars and a dozen lawmen arrived to cart Grover off. The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
Did wife of anti-gun Conyers threaten
colleague…with gun?
by Dave Workman, Senior Editor
Detroit police were investigating allegations that Detroit, MI, City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, wife of anti-gun Congressman John Conyers, made threats against DeDan Milton, an aide to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, during a meeting of the city of Detroit's pension board, on which both Milton and Conyers serve.
According to published reports in
both The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, Conyers allegedly threatened
Accounts of the mid-February
altercation differ but
"The matter is currently under
investigation by the Detroit Police Department,"
Rep. Conyers, a perennial
anti-gunner, had not issued a statement and will not be, according to a press
aide who spoke briefly with Gun Week. Calls to other
The altercation broke out Feb. 13
during the pension board meeting. Canning said
Apparently, no disciplinary action will
be taken against Conyers by the pension board, because that board, which was
established in 1938, does not have official rules governing behavior of its
members.
A week later, at the Feb. 20
pension board meeting, Chairman David Clark told his colleagues that Milton and
Conyers should be present when the board discussed the altercation.
Conyers' Chief of Staff Sam Riddle
offered a different account, blaming the incident on
The Detroit News reported that
Conyers was once accused of striking a woman during what was described as a
"bar brawl" in 2006 but a
The incident is weighted with irony, since Conyers' husband has been an ardent gun control proponent during his congressional career. He currently chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee and is rated with an "F" grade by the National Rifle Association.
Conyers voted against legislation to protect firearms manufacturers and retailers from harassment lawsuits, he was co-sponsor of legislation to renew and expand the ban on so-called "assault weapons," and he at one time proposed a ban on handguns. He reportedly has since moderated that position, vowing that he would not pass handgun ban legislation out of his committee.
Conyers did oppose the nomination of former Sen. John Ashcroft as attorney general during the first administration of President George W. Bush. At the time, Conyers issued a statement that "Senator Ashcroft's past wholehearted embrace of an extreme view of the Second Amendment; his active support for legislation in Missouri that would allow individuals to carry concealed weapons; and his unwillingness to commit to relinquish his membership in the NRA, disqualify him as the person best charged with enforcing our gun laws." The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
Anti-gunners line up against legal carry
in national parks
Anti-gunners appear fearful that a movement to allow licensed concealed carry for personal protection inside national parks is gaining momentum and recently sent an e-mail urging people to contact members of Congress in protest to the proposal.
The US Senate is currently considering S-2483, sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. If approved, the measure would allow park visitors to pack pistols for personal protection. But an e-mail alert from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was loaded with alarmist rhetoric, including references to "loaded, hidden handguns" and a claim that current restrictions on firearms in national parks are "reasonable." The Brady Campaign message calls Coburn "an ally of the gun lobby."
But Coburn has plenty of company:
over half the senators have now written to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne,
the former governor of
The Brady message asserts that Coburn's amendment would put "hikers, campers and families at risk" by allowing licensed concealed carry in national parks.
The Brady Campaign has allies in opposition to the bill which could be voted on soon in the Senate.
Environmental News Service reported that on Feb. 1-the Association of National Park Rangers, the Coalition of National Park, Service Retirees, and the US Park ngers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of lice wrote a joint letter to US senators aging them to reject the Coburn amendment.
Coburn's amendment to the "National
Forests, Parks,
The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRAILA) has made the adoption of new rules to allow law-abiding gunowners with permits to carry their firearms for self- defense while traveling in our national parks a top priority for nearly five years.
Concealed carry in national parks has been promoted by various state and regional gun rights groups for some time. In recent years, the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) has been spearheading a movement to pressure Congress to change the law governing firearms in national parks, citing increased crime. The New GUN WEEK, March 1, 2008
11 Senate Dems file new gun show measure
by Joseph P. Tartaro, Executive Editor
Eleven Senate Democrats have filed new legislation that threatens private sales of firearms at gun shows and other events by requiring registration of all gun show organizers and background checks by federal firearms licensees (FFLs) for all private transactions.
The bill, S-2577, was filed on Jan. 30 with Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Jack Reed (D-RI) as the lead sponsors. Co-sponsors include: Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Edward Kennedy and John Kerry (both D-MA); Charles Schumer (D-NY); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); Daniel Inouye (D-HI); Carl Levin (D-MI), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
The measure, dubbed by sponsors as the "gun show loophole bill," defines gun, shows as any event at which 50 or more firearms are offered for sale; and a least 20% of the exhibitors display firearms, or there are not fewer than 10 firearm exhibitors; or 50 or more firearms are offered for sale, transfer or exchange. While this certainly includes shows of 100 to 1,000 tables sponsored by nonprofit collector organizations and for- profit gun show promoting companies and individuals, it could also includes some club meetings and even state association meetings.
The bill defines a "gun show promoter" as anyone who organizes, plans, promotes or operates a gun show, which could mean the board members of an association of gun collectors, and requires "promoters" to register with the Attorney. General.
Gun show promoters would be required to verify the identity of every vendor (anyone who has a firearm, essentially) and maintain a record of all vendors. The promoter would also be charged with notifying all attendees at the show or event of the regulations.
S-2577 defines "gun show vendor" as any person who exhibits, sells, offers for sale, transfers or exchanges one or more firearms at a gun show, whether or not the person operates from a fixed location at the show, thus classifying anyone who brings one or more guns to a show or other event with the intent to sell or trade as a vendor.
The Lautenberg-Reed bill requires all firearm transfers at the gun show to be processed by an FFL, who would be required to maintain a separate bound record of all firearms transferred at the request of a non-licensee (non-FFL). The FFL also would be required to complete a separate form as prescribed by the Attorney General and submit a report of sales to the AG within 10 days.
The measure is only slightly different from the so-called gun show loophole bill co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R- AZ), the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) in 2001, which failed at passage.
S-2577 has been referred to the Judiciary Committee but whether the bill would move in an election year is open to conjecture. The New GUN WEEK, March 1, 2008
NBA, NFL anti-gun policies may not be
protecting players
According to a Jan. 8 article by Chris Sprow in Reason Magazine, officials in the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) increasingly take a paternalistic attitude toward their athletes.
For years, the NFL and the NBA have attempted to distance players from firearms. Some would argue these policies are aimed at a culture that celebrates the criminal use of violent weapons, but the effect is pretty clear: The leagues would rather their players put themselves at risk than protect themselves with guns.
The NFL asks not just that players avoid guns in general, but that they avoid having them even at home. Ex- NFL honcho Paul Tagliabue instituted an official league gun policy back in 1994 that discouraged even legally obtained weapons. "Any weapon, particularly a firearm, is dangerous," the policy states, "especially so when it is in a vehicle or within reach of children and others not properly trained in its use."
Roger Goodell, who replaced Tagliabue in the NFL commissioner's office just last year, has already dishe4 out gun- related penalties. When foler Chicago Bears tackle Tank Johnson' was cited for illegal firearm possession at his suburban Chicago home last year, Goodell didn't wait for the criminal justice system to determine Johnson's ,guilt. Goodell opted to ban Johnson from the league for half a season.
Johnson, by the standards of the
law of the state of
The NBA takes a similarly hard line. Commissioner David Stern, a New York native who joined the league's legal department in the 70s and has been commissioner since 1984, told media in a pre-season conference call, "It's a pretty, I think, widely accepted statistic that if you carry a gun, your chances of being shot by one increase dramatically. We think this is an alarming subject. Although you'll read players saying how they feel safer with guns, in fact those guns actually make them less safe. . . ."
Stern is wrong, though well-versed in anti-gun rhetoric. Unfortunately, his players may be paying for his errors.
Pro athletes are targets. They are young, wealthy, famous, and many opt not to abandon the communities where they grew up. They face a different threat and a different reality than halls traversed by the likes of Stern and Goodell.
Last year, Washington Redskins
safety Sean Taylor got out of bed during the night upon hearing intruders
entering his home. To protect himself, his girlfriend, and child,
The intruder shot and killed
FL cops fumble murder-suicide
Police in
But on Friday, Feb. 15, Clay Coffner showed up at the home of Natasha Hall and shot her in the head. He then shot himself fatally.
According to WKMG news in
"The police officer said if you call us one more time on him," Hall's mother, Sherry, told the station, "I'm going to arrest you both. So, the day she died, she knew she couldn't talk to police so she handled it herself."
A friend of the dead girl described Coffner as "psycho, jealous and abusive." Only the police, the friend said, did not recognize the warning signs when everyone else did. The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
Cop-killer slain in prison
From the "Let me see if I have
this straight" file comes the story of Larry Davis, the 41-year-old
convict who was doing time for a murder conviction, and who had previously been
jailed for shooting six
If you never met
What isn't clear here is how
So, he was out in 1991 long enough
to murder—you guessed it—another drug dealer in the
He must have made someone awfully
mad in the joint, because when prison guards found him,
Deputy discharges gun in john
From the "Only Cops Should
Have Guns" file comes the story out of
He was making a pit stop during his lunch hour in a courthouse restroom when he hung his service pistol by the trigger guard on a hook in the stall. According to the Associated Press, when he went to retrieve the handgun, it discharged. The bullet put a hole in the ceiling.
Wawers was suspended without pay for eight days and received a written reprimand. The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
MA Pike toll workers disarmed
Toll collectors on the
Massachusetts Turnpike will no longer be allowed to carry their 38 caliber
handguns for protection as they transport the cash from the toll booths,
according to WBZ in
The turnpike's executive director Alan LeBovidge says he ordered 16 employees to turn in their weapons because there was no proof they had the proper state police firearms training. The New GUN WEEK, March 15, 2008
Off-duty
From the "Only Cops Should
Have Guns" file comes this story out of
According to wire services and The
Seattle Times,
Published reports said that Phillips was driving home from work in his clearly-marked patrol vehicle, and in full uniform, when he was flagged down by a citizen who reportedly had seen Daily in a physical confrontation with an unidentified woman. Phillips apparently had no idea he would soon be confronting a fellow cop.
Daily was dressed in casual clothing but was reportedly wearing soft body armor.
The afternoon confrontation
suddenly erupted and several shots were exchanged, with Phillips taken to
The unidentified woman was also treated at the hospital for injuries she suffered prior to the shootout. The New GUN WEEK, March 1, 2008
Driver killed over stick-shift car
Here's a story that combines criminal frustration with criminal stupity.
An attempted
Kendel Williams, 38, later died at
Williams had just arrived at his home when two men came up to him and demanded the car, said Lt. Jim Marchione. Neither of the men knew how to drive the car because it had a stick shift and instead shot the man, Marchione said. The New GUN WEEK, March 1, 2008
Man learns shoplifting's dangers
A
The suspect was hospitalized after
his Jan. 7 attempted theft from a Meijer Inc. superstore in
The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, The Grand Rapids Press reported.
The man had put about $300 worth of hunting knives in his waistband, police told WZZM-TV. Police say he tried to leave the store, but Meijer employees confronted him and a scuffle followed.
Police said the suspect has a record of retail fraud. The New GUN WEEK, March 1, 2008
TX robbery attempt goes bad
Say a belated goodbye to a
The newspaper reported that
Proctor was in no mood to be
robbed, and he pulled his legally- concealed handgun and shot
The case was referred to a
Forgetful ATF agent now a target
A female agent with the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found herself in Dutch with the
Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) and a legion of gun rights activists
after she left her pistol in a restroom inside a secure area of the
According to WorldNetDaily.com (WND), the unidentified agent's gun could have been picked up by anyone who found it, allegedly because the finder would have been a "prohibited person." However, it was not clear why, inside a secure TSA zone, such a gun finder would be a "prohibited person."
The agent had used the restroom and then left the airport. Only later did she realize her pistol was missing. The gun was recovered by local authorities or a private citizen, according to the WND article.
An Associated Press report of the
incident said the agent was "embarrassed." The New GUN
WEEK, March 1, 2008
NEWS RELEASES
CCRKBA
SAYS PRESS PURPOSELY DOWNPLAYS KEY ROLE OF ARMED STUDENT IN
03/07/2008_BELLEVUE, WA
– An armed student at
Yitzhak Dadon, 40, was described as
“a private citizen who had a gun license and was able to shoot the gunman with
his pistol” by reporter Etgar Lefkovitz with the Jerusalem Post. However, many
news agencies in the
“Yitzhak Dadon is a hero,” said
CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “and he is living proof that armed students have
a place on college campuses. Thankfully, his quick action was reported by the
international press, including Mr. Lefkovitz, so unlike incidents here in the
“Mr. Dadon is not going to become a victim of this conspiracy of silence,” Gottlieb continued. “Elitist American college administrators, the national press, nor anti-gun politicians can sweep this incident under their rug.”
Internationally published reports say Dadon studies at the yeshiva, and had his pistol when the shooting erupted. When the gunman emerged from a library, Dadon reportedly shot him twice in the head. The gunman was subsequently shot by the off-duty soldier.
“Yitzhak Dadon’s apparently
well-placed bullets interrupted a rampage,” Gottlieb said. “What a pity that
someone like Mr. Dadon was not in class last April at Virginia Tech. What a
tragedy that anti-gun extremism would keep him from attending class at
“
-END-
Gun Owners of
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Great news!
Legislation designed to ban the confiscation of guns and ammunition in the aftermath of a natural disaster is advancing in the state General Assembly.
The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed the Emergency Protection Act earlier this month, and the bill is now in the House of Representatives.
In essence, SB 1172 will prevent a
repeat of what happened in
The bill now moves to the House, which must pass the measure before it can go to the governor for his signature. More than a dozen states have passed similar Emergency Protection laws to prevent a future Katrina-style confiscation from ever occurring inside their jurisdiction. SB 1172 will prevent police from confiscating firearms or ammunition from anyone who is lawfully possessing or carrying their weapons.
ACTION: Please contact your state representative and ask him or her to support SB 1172, introduced by Sen. Robert Robbins (R-Dist. 50). You can identify your representative by going to http://www.legis.state.pa.us (there's a zipcode box in the upper right corner of the page).
Once you plug in your zipcode, the results page will include a link to contact your representative.
Simply urge your representative to support SB 1172 in the space provided.
-END-
Gun Owners of
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Gun Owners of America today
hammered BATFE nominee Michael Sullivan as "unfit for office"' --
characterizing him as a
In its press release today,
ACTION: Please make sure that you
send in your postcards (provided in the GOA mailing) to your two
The postcards ask your Senators to OPPOSE the nomination of Acting Director Michael Sullivan, and urge President Bush to WITHDRAW his support for the Sullivan nomination.
Not receiving legislative postcards
from
The full text of today's
**********************************
Gun Owners of America's Executive Director, Larry Pratt, today blasted BATFE nominee Michael Sullivan as "unfit for office" -- characterizing him as being "as anti-gun as Ted Kennedy."
In a series of answers to interrogatories submitted by Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter, Sullivan revealed that:
* He would not rescind BATFE's policy of revoking federal licenses for simple paperwork violations not involving "criminal intent;"
* He would not back down on BATFE's illegal and abusive policies of harassing gun show attendees;
* He supports anti-gun legislation by New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, but opposes pro-gun legislation dealing with interstate transfers sponsored by conservative Republicans;
* He defends revoking a license of a dealer with a 99.96% accuracy rate -- a rate which is far better than BATFE's.
In fact, in dozens of responses to questions posed by Vitter, Sullivan refused to even feign a conciliatory tone.
"I didn't expect pro-gun conservatism from Sullivan," said Pratt.
"But you would have thought he would have been less obvious in his efforts to repeatedly poke Vitter in the eye."
-END-
02/13/2008 CCRKBA BACKS COBURN EFFORT TO LEGALIZE CCW IN
NATIONAL PARKS
“This is responsible, sensible legislation,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb, “and it is a genuine shame that the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has mounted a campaign to derail this important effort.
“PEER issued an alarmist press release that mirrors hysteria currently being pandered by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence about Coburn’s S. 2483,” Gottlieb noted. “Their specious argument is that allowing legally-licensed private citizens to carry concealed, defensive firearms inside national parks would contribute to poaching and open the door to sport hunting. That is a pretty flimsy sham to cover their real objection, which is against American citizens exercising their right of self-defense in an emergency on national park property.”
Gottlieb, co-author of America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age, noted that an entire chapter of that book is devoted to rising criminal activity in national parks and on national forest lands.
“PEER and their soulmates at the Brady Campaign want to continue operating national parks as victim disarmament zones,” Gottlieb observed. “American citizens do not leave their right of self-defense, not to mention their constitutional right to keep and bear arms, at the gates of a national park, but under current regulations, one-tenth of the Bill of Rights is suspended on national park property, and that cannot be allowed to continue.
“This has nothing to do with hunting or poaching,” he added, “and officials at PEER who issued a public statement against the Coburn amendment, knows it. Rhetoric about poaching and hunting amounts to a red herring designed to divert attention away from the real issue of public safety in national parks.
“For too many years, the National Park Service has been allowed to suspend the Second Amendment on lands it manages,” Gottlieb concluded. “But those lands are public lands, and they belong to all of us, not just some anti-gun park service bureaucrats, PEER gun control advocates or the Brady Campaign. It’s time for the Coburn Amendment to become law.”
With more than 650,000 members and
supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear
Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations.
As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving
firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating
grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities
throughout the
-END-
News Briefs:
08/03/06
Gun debate draws nation
The District's interim attorney general
yesterday said the city's Supreme Court fight to maintain its 30-year-old ban on
handguns has prompted hundreds of organizations and individuals to throw in
their two cents.
The case has gained national notice as more
than 300 members of Congress, 46 states, two former
"Our team read and reread over 50
briefs that were filed both on behalf of the respondents and on behalf of [the
District] from around the country," interim D.C. Attorney General Peter J.
Nickles said. "This is a case that has drawn national — international —
attention."
The District yesterday filed its last brief
in the case — a three-pronged argument that says the Second Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution applies to militias and not individuals.
The brief also argues that the gun ban does
not infringe on the Second Amendment because states are allowed to enact
firearm regulations, and that the ban is a reasonable restriction permitted
under the Constitution
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/METRO/816055572/1004
08/03/06
Working in the best interests of Texans
Last week, columnist Linda Campbell assailed
Texas Attorney Greg Abbott for leading 31 states before the U.S. Supreme Court
in defense of the Second Amendment. If we stand accused of vigorously
protecting the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, we readily plead
guilty as charged.
Nonetheless, the Feb. 28 column was wrong on
multiple fronts:
As a legal matter, the text of the Second
Amendment protects "the right of the people to keep and bear arms."
Those words have meaning, and any effort to read them out of the Constitution
is profoundly wrong.
The attorney general did not act
unilaterally. To the contrary, Abbott assembled a bipartisan coalition of 31
state attorneys general, all of whom agreed that the
Every lawyer in
I did tell her that no
But neither statement means that the case
doesn't affect Texans.
Every Texan, and every American, has an
individual right to keep and bear arms under the plain text and the original
understanding of the Constitution. If the Supreme Court reads that right out of
the Constitution -- and that is exactly what D.C. wants the high court to do --
every Texan and every American would lose that fundamental right.
To illustrate the point, I asked
Not surprisingly, she didn't like that
idea. I wonder why.
And I also wonder which position best
serves the residents of
http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/514392.html
08/03/06 At Least 60 Car Windows Shot
Out With BBs
Police Investigating Rash Of Criminal
Mischief Cases In
Police said they believe they are all related
and have a warning for the culprits.
"This
is more than just a nuisance. The truth is if we encounter individuals armed
with BB guns we are going to treat it like a real weapon," Navarro said.
Even residents whose cars were not hit are
feeling uptight. They said their sense of safety has been broken. Some are even
talking about taking security into their own hands.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/15514014/detail.html
08/03/05
Border Patrol pilot won't face criminal charges in shooting
TUCSON-
A Customs and Border Protection pilot who shot a contract worker in the abdomen
won't be facing criminal charges, a
The internal investigation by the
Border Patrol into whether the pilot followed agency procedure had not been
completed Tuesday, Border Patrol spokesman Agent Mike Scioli said.
The pilot has not been identified and
won't be before the investigation is complete.
The criminal investigation revealed that the pilot was showing a new
personal gun, a Colt .45-caliber pistol, to a co-worker when it discharged Feb.
18 at the headquarters of Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine branch
near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson police said.
The pilot, in his account to police,
said he pulled back the slide to check the chamber but didn't see a round
inside. "He didn't remove the magazine before checking the chamber,"
the police report said.
The pilot said he let the action go
forward, then depressed the trigger to decock the pistol, according to the
report. The hammer slipped and the gun went off, sending a bullet through a map
stuck to the pilot's cubicle, through the west wall of the open work area and
into the building's briefing room, the report said.
The pilot heard screaming and immediately
called 911, according to the report.
The wounded man was identified as Rick
Dorsey, 51, a contract worker from
Dorsey was working on training files when
the bullet smashed through the wall and struck him, it said.
Dorsey was taken to
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0305az-borderpilot05-on.html
08/03/05
Victim describes robbery try at home
The alleged victim of a botched robbery at
his
Danny Gonzales, 35, of Rear 419 Gallagher
Court, said he was watching television Dec. 11 after 11 p.m. when he heard a
knock at the door. He looked out the window and saw a man with short hair
standing at the door.
When he asked who was at the door, Mr. Gonzales said he was told, “You know who
it is. Open the door.”
“I said ‘I don’t know you. Have a good night,’??’’ he said. “Then I walked
upstairs.”
After
his door was kicked in, Mr. Gonzales said he ran down the stairs and followed
the intruder outside, firing his .45-caliber handgun.
Five people — Tiffanie Dominech, 26, of
103 Belvedere Ave.; Jeffrey Sampson, 22, of 4360 William Penn Highway, Easton;
James T. Blake, 17, of 100 Belvedere Drive; Malik McDonald, 23, of 419 S.
Webster Ave.; and Gregory J. Bell, 30, of 108 Belvedere Drive — were charged
with plotting the robbery after an alleged argument between Mr. Gonzales and
Ms. Dominech over Mr. McDonald.
All but Ms. Dominech, who waived her
preliminary hearing in December, began preliminary hearings Tuesday.
Investigators say Mr. McDonald, Mr.
Blake and Mr. Sampson, who was armed with a 9-mm handgun, actually committed
the robbery at Mr. Gonzales’ home. But
Mr. Gonzales, who is facing a reckless endangerment charge because he admitted
firing several shots at the would-be robbers, said Tuesday he had no idea
who was at his door, or if there was one man or two.
Defense attorneys argued there wasn’t
enough evidence to prove the case.
“There’s been no evidence presented
connecting these people to any crime,” attorney Joseph Toczydlowski said.
The hearing was halted after Deputy
District Attorney Margaret Bisignani called Ms. Dominech to the stand. After
admitting she knew the men who were charged, Ms. Dominech said she didn’t want
to testify about anything else without her attorney present.
The hearing will continue later this
month. Mr. Sampson and Mr. McDonald are being held in Lackawanna County Prison
in lieu of $100,000 bail. The other defendants remain free on bail.
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19359824&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6
08/03/04
Wendy's Shooting: "Random Act Of Violence"
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) ― Police in Palm
Beach County are still no closer for a motive why a man they say walked
out of a bathroom at a Palm Beach County Wendy's, dressed in suit and tie, and
opened fire on the people eating lunch. One man died and 4 more were hurt
before the gunman killed himself.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
identified the gunman as 60-year-old Alburn Blake, who lived in a modest
apartment in
Investigators have searched his car
and his apartment, but have learned little that would help them to understand
why he opened fire on unsuspecting diners in the Palm Beach Gardens Wendy's
around noon Monday.
CBS4 talked to one of Blake's
neighbors who said she was shocked to know he was the killer. "He'd come
home from work, go into house. He had Christmas light decorations. I mean, he
seemed okay."
The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office
said Blake, dressed in a shirt & tie and wearing a baseball cap walked
into the restaurant in the 13-hundred block of Military Trail and went into the
restroom. Moments later he came out with a 9mm gun and began shooting.
Among those inside was Palm Beach Fire
Rescue Lieutenant Rafael Vazquez, who had brought his wife and son to the
restaurant for lunch. He shouldn't have been inside the restaurant when Blake
opened fire, but he went inside to ask about a toy missing from his child's
meal.
Investigators are still looking for the
source and reason of Blake's rage. Neighbors say when they searched his apartment,
deputies took out several vials of prescription drugs from his rooms.
http://cbs4.com/local/wendys.shooting.west.2.667894.html
08/03/03 Man fatally shot outside
Gulledge told police that he shot
According
to the affidavit:
Gulledge said
Gulledge said he took the pistol from the car console and tried to scare
Gulledge told police he fired a shot into the ground, then started back to his
car. He said he shot
Gulledge was arraigned Saturday before District Judge Robert Halal, who
committed him to Lehigh County Prison without bail.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_5homicide.6295729mar02,0,7115857.story
08/03/01 Would Christ Carry a Concealed Weapon?
I was on a talk show the other day
defending the Second Amendment and discussing with my host the stupid,
unconstitutional and woefully inadequate D.C. gun ban. I made it clear that I
am a Christian who is extremely cool (to the point of being giddy) with our
right to keep and bear arms.
After we trounced the anti-gun lobby for
their goofy, doe-eyed, John Lennon-like “Imagine” solutions to violent crime,
we opened up the phone lines for folks to weigh in with their two cents. The
first caller was a woman who asked if I thought Jesus would carry a weapon if
He were here today, to which I quickly replied, yes, of course He
would—especially if He lived in Miami and was driving down I-95 at four o’clock
in the morning.
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DougGiles/2008/03/01/would_christ_carry_a_concealed_weapon
08/02/26 Landowner charged with gun
threat on boy, dad
A
State police at
Nehoda became angry when he saw the
father and son riding a snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle on his property at
about 7 p.m. Friday, state police said.
Nehoda, who has a license to carry a
concealed weapon, allegedly confronted the pair, pointed a shotgun at the
12-year-old and told him to shut off the vehicle.
The father called 911, but the
dispatcher was only able to get partial information before the call was
disconnected. The dispatcher called back several times, but no one answered,
police said.
State police were able to track down
the location of the call, but the father and son had already left. Nehoda told
troopers about the incident, saying that ''he will protect his property,''
police said.
The father later contacted the state
police and filed a formal complaint, which led to the charges.
Nehoda was arraigned before District Justice Adrianne Masut of Wind Gap
Saturday
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/police/all-3shotgun.6288061feb26,0,269161.story
08/02/22 Obama shooting himself in the
foot with anti-gun stance As she
clawed for survival against Barack Obama in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary this
past weekend, Hillary Clinton lamely asserted her Second Amendment bona fides
over that of her rival by claiming that she once shot a duck in Arkansas.
http://www.pajamasmedia.com/2008/02/obama_shooting_himself_in_the.php
08/02/22
http://cornellsun.com/node/28000
08/02/21
A
long University of Nebraska-Lincoln tradition came to an abrupt end this week
after a student brought a Nerf gun into a classroom
http://www.ketv.com/news/15370940/detail.html
08/02/21 Would-Be Robber
Shot
A suspected robber is in the
hospital after police say he was shot by his intended victim. It happened around 9:00 Wednesday
night on
08/02/20 Daley gun control plan has new
twists Chicago Sun-Times
Citing
the NIU shootings, Anti-gun Mayor Daley unveiled his annual Package of gun
control legislation, even as a state senate sponsor acknowledged That none of
the bills could have prevented the tragedy. Once again, Daley Wants to ban
semiautomatic assault weapons and .50-caliber military-grade Rifles ,use the
State Police to license gun dealers and limit handgun purchases to one a month
per person
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/801681,021908daley.article
08/02/19
Five Questions about Shootings at Universities
Question 1: Why are murderers
always counted in the victims tally? The day after the mass murder of students
at Northern Illinois University (NIU), the headline in the closest major
newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, was: "6 Dead in NIU Shooting."
"6 dead" included the murderer.
Why wasn't the headline "5 killed at NIU"? It is nothing less than
moronic that the media routinely lump murderers and their victims in the same
tally.
This is something entirely new. Until the
morally confused took over the universities and the news media, murderers were
never counted along with their victims. To give a military analogy, can one
imagine a headline like this in an American newspaper after the Japanese attack
on
One can only assume that this mode of
reporting murders is part of the larger movement toward non-judgmentalism and
egalitarianism. To many Americans in academia, the media, and elsewhere, all
the dead constitute a tragedy. Suggesting that some dead are more important
than other dead is forbidden.
At the San Francisco Zoo, after a young
man was mauled to death by a tiger that had escaped its confines, the
administrators of the zoo even lumped a killed animal with its human victim:
the Zoo set up a memorial to both the man and the tiger. And, unsurprisingly, given
the egalitarianism that now also lumps human beings with animals, the tiger
received more condolence messages than the human it killed.
Question
2: Which of these three options is more likely to prevent further murderous
rampages: a) making universities closed campuses and increasing the police
presence on campus (as the president of NIU has promised to do); b) making guns
much harder to obtain; or c) enabling specially trained students and faculty to
carry concealed weapons on campus?
Because political correctness has replaced
wisdom at nearly all universities, colleges are considering options a and b.
But the only thing the first option will accomplish is to reduce the quality of
university life and render the campus a larger version of the contemporary
airport. And the second option will have no effect whatsoever since whoever
wishes to commit murder will be able to obtain guns illegally.
But if would-be murderers know that
anywhere they go to kill students, there is a real likelihood that one or two
students will shoot them first, and if in fact some would-be murderer is killed
before he can murder any, or at least many, students, we will see far fewer
such attempts made. Even though many of these murderers end up killing
themselves, they don't want to die until they have first murdered as many
students and teachers as possible.
Of course, there is virtually no chance
that the uniformly left-thinking individuals who run our universities will ever
consider this option. To do so would mean abandoning what is essentially a
religious-like conviction that guns are immoral rather than the people who use
them immorally.
Question
3: Why are "shooter" and "gunman" used instead of
"killer" or "murderer"?
If a murderer used a knife to murder five
students, no news headlines would read, "Knifeman Kills Five." So why
always "shooter" and "gunman"? The most obvious explanation
is that by focusing on the weapon used by the murderer, the media can further
their anti-gun agenda.
Question
4: Why is "murder" never used to describe homicides involved in
these university massacres? And why is "murderer" never used to
describe these murderers? Why has "kill" become the only word allowed
for deliberate homicide?
Some will say that this is because
"murder" is a legal term, and until one is convicted of murder in a
court of law, the word should not be used.
I find this unpersuasive. If these murderers
can be described as having killed students, then they have in fact committed
murder. I believe the major reason for the death of the words
"murder" and "murderer" has to do, again, with an
unwillingness to make moral judgments, and "murderer" is far more
judgmental than "shooter."
Question
5: Would the press note killers' religiosity if they were all Christian?
Imagine for a moment that all the mass
murderers at our universities were active Christians. Do you think that the
press would at the very least note this? Of course it would, and it would be
right to do so.
Yet, to the best of my knowledge, all the
recent university mass murderers were secular. Is this worth noting? And if
not, why not? Of course, the answer is that few, if any, in the mainstream
media would find such a thing worth noting and would likely bristle at its mention.
To nearly everyone in the media, the secularism of all the murderers is a
non-sequitur. But if they were all active Christians, the same media people
would hardly view that fact as insignificant and unrelated.
The fact is that nearly everyone in the
mainstream media is secular and therefore cannot imagine associating secularism
with anything negative. Secularism is presumed to be all good. But in truth,
secularism, a blessing in government, is not a blessing in the lives of most
individuals. Now, one can no more blame these college murders on secularism
than one could blame Christianity if all the murderers were Christian. But in
neither case would it be insignificant.
08/02/19 Vulnerable schools need
protection
Guns,
training for teachers may be answer
Thirty-nine students attend my American
literature seminar this semester. Our classroom is the first one you see on the
left, as you enter the unlocked humanities building.
If a psychotic gunman were searching
for a tight cluster of multiple bodies -- an easy target for seeking revenge,
casting out demons, achieving immortality or whatever else his perverse purpose
happens to be -- he would find my classroom door wide open. He could assume a
position straddling the threshold and blocking the exit, so that he could fire
at the trapped students at will, reload his weapon and fire once again. We
would be sitting ducks in yet another American schoolhouse tragedy.
But if I were packing a loaded
automatic pistol in a shoulder holster beneath my jacket, we might have half a chance.
I am no Rambo. I am a middle-age English
professor with no military background. But as an outdoorsman, I have a passing
acquaintance with the use of firearms, experience which could be refined to a
skill of safety and competence, with adequate training.
Years in classroom management in urban
high schools, colleges and universities makes me attuned and alert to every
individual, and their comings and goings in my classroom.
And because of the responsibility I
feel toward my students, I would do whatever I could to protect their lives,
even without a weapon. So why not arm me and give them a reasonable chance?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-oped0219proffeb19,0,4089576.story
08/02/18 Why DC's Gun Law Is
Unconstitutional
Historical arguments about American bills
of rights are major points of discussion in the
The historians' Heller amicus brief begins
with a look at the English Bill of Rights, which limited only the king, not the
legislative branch of government. James Madison indicated during his speech to
Congress introducing the Bill of Rights provisions that the comparison was
inapplicable. The reason was because their purposes were different.
The historians' brief bizarrely claims that
only two states,
In further pursuit of their clearly mistaken
view, it is asserted in the historians' amicus that fundamental rights
protections, which they recognize are listed within the original states'
declarations of rights, were not understood as legally binding commands. This
statement is directly contradicted by the original constitutions of
Next, the historians' amicus addresses the
Second Amendment-related language within the existing state bills of rights,
which they have just mistakenly claimed were not understood as limits on the
state governments or part of the state constitutions. These provisions, upon
which the Second Amendment's language was directly based, are treated exactly
as the Second Amendment's language itself. The historians assert, for example,
that
These fifteen professional academic
historians have overlooked something of fundamental importance for understanding
the Second Amendment by so quickly dismissing the related provisions that are
found in every period state bill of rights, all of which are Revolutionary Era
documents. This is largely the result of failure to examine them historically,
to trace back their development, to discover their earliest author and normal
period usage, or to compare them closely. George Mason was the first American
state bill of rights author, as well as the first to place a well-regulated
militia reference in such a bill of rights context. Over a year prior to
writing the 1776 Virginia Bill of Rights, Mason was using the well-regulated
militia language to describe a self-embodying defensive association of all the
freemen in
George Mason prepared a three-part structure with leading Second
Amendment-related language for the Virginia Bill of Rights that was copied into
every Revolutionary Era state bill of rights. The historians are well aware of
the statements within these "Mason Triad" structures; but they do not
notice the universally used three-part structure itself, do not make the
obvious connection between the three parts, nor do they identify them as a
fundamental proclamation upon which American liberty and free governments are
based. They misinterpret bill of rights-related Mason Triads as being all about
government control of the militia, even when the militia is not mentioned.
These provisions were intended to limit the government, something the
historians conveniently though mistakenly denied before examining these
provisions. As noted above, in the view of its bill of rights originator,
well-regulated militia related to the people being able to self-embody with
their own arms for defense against unconstitutional actions of government
implemented by force. These universally present state bill of rights Mason
Triads always consisted of a leading armed civilian population reference
(either well-regulated militia or right to bear arms), followed by a
condemnation of standing military forces, with a trailing statement that the
military will be under the control of the civil power, the armed civilian
population.
After separating all Second
Amendment-related language from any possible relationship to private rights, the
historians then completely depart from any Bill of Rights history and context
to a militia history and context that is inappropriate for a Bill of Rights
provision. In virtually every following comment, the historians treat the
Second Amendment as entirely related to militia matters under complete state
government control. Since when did the Federalists become champions of state
powers over the militia? It would be pointless to address all of these
professional historians' irrelevant examples, especially since they lead only
further and further away from the relevant historical sources clarifying the
Second Amendment's actual history and intent.
The historians next address the
development in the Federal Convention of the congressional power over the militia
because, in their slanted view, that is the spark that ignites all desire for
the Second Amendment. What the historians ignore from within the Federal
Convention is the very origin and purpose of the struggle to add a bill of
rights to the Constitution, just as they ignore the subsequent long political
struggle extending until the Bill of Rights provisions seem to miraculously
appear out of nowhere in Madison's hands within Congress. What is missing from
the historians' account is any mention of the Antifederalist struggle for,
development of, or statement of purpose regarding the Bill of Rights provisions
that James Madison promised to support in the Virginia Ratifying Convention and
later actually took to Congress as the foundation of the U.S. Bill of Rights.
Toward the close of the Federal
Convention, George Mason made an attempt to obtain a bill of rights committee.
His concern was that the laws of Congress were to be paramount to the states'
bills of rights, thus, leaving the individual rights already protected against
the states open to violation by laws of the new Congress. The Convention voted
down a bill of rights committee. Mason, incensed, refused to sign the
Constitution. He became the leading Antifederalist fighting against ratification
and for a federal bill of rights throughout the Ratification Period. Mason's
bill of rights objections to the Constitution and refusal to sign were widely
known and very persuasive. The Federalists argued against the need of any bill
of rights consistently throughout the Ratification Period and they opposed bill
of rights proposals except where politically forced to accept them. Thus, the
historians' amicus brief use of Ratification Era Federalist writings as
explanations for bill of rights provisions developed by their Antifederalist
opponents are particularly off base. It was the Antifederalists who supported,
developed, proposed, and explained the purpose of a bill of rights during
ratification, not the Federalists. That the historians do not delve into the
bill of rights struggle at all is most revealing. It proves that they do not
recognize the bill of rights struggle as the source from which the Second
Amendment, a typical Bill of Rights provision, developed.
George Mason, later chairman of an informal
Antifederalist committee in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, prepared a
complete Bill of Rights to be proposed for the Constitution. His Bill of Rights
provisions were all based directly on the Virginia State Bill of Rights with
added provisions from those of the other states. Mason's Bill of Rights,
including the two-clause version of the Second Amendment he developed, was the
model that all four of the last ratifying conventions relied on in developing
their bills of rights. It was the provisions of Mason's Bill of Rights,
understood by
This more relevant historical
information, completely ignored by the professional historians in their amicus
brief, indicates that the Second Amendment became part of the Constitution, not
in relation to any specific concern about militia powers as the historians
persistently and mistakenly claim, but rather as part of a complete Bill of
Rights taken from the pre-existing state bills of rights. Backing up this clear
historical evidence, Mason himself wrote that he and his Antifederalist
committee had not yet even considered any amendments of the militia powers in
the letter he sent with the completed Bill of Rights (including its Second
Amendment provision) to the Antifederalist leaders of New York to be used as
the model for their proposed Declaration of Rights. The historians' constant
claims in the amicus linking the Second Amendment specifically to militia
powers arguments are, once again, directly at odds with the most relevant
historical facts and the understanding of the most involved Framers.
The Antifederalists' concerns over the
militia powers being given to Congress are viewed by the historians as proving
that all Second Amendment-related discussion from the period was about state
control of the militia. They misinterpret and largely ignore the repeated
Antifederalist Mantra that the people or militia would be disarmed. In fact,
the only time George Mason, the actual developer of the U.S. Bill of Rights'
provisions, is ever mentioned in their brief is to bolster their view that
"disarm" means the government failing to arm militia forces under its
control. To the historians, all the period arguments about the people being
disarmed are unrelated to the private arms of the people being taken away from
them or denied to them by the government. The historians treat the common
countervailing Federalist Mantra, that the people are armed and can prevent
tyranny, in exactly the same way. To them, this only means that the states will
control the militia and arm the militia if the states decide it is necessary.
Just like an astonishing amount of other relevant historical information, a
considerable number of Antifederalist and Federalist Mantra statements are
ignored in the historians' amicus that could not possibly fit into the
historians' narrow, militia-centric view of the Second Amendment.
The big picture of what occurred in
Congress is buried in the historians' legalistic, militia-centric nitpicking
about dropping and adding clauses to
When the relevant historical information
regarding the primary authors, statements, and actions related to the U.S. Bill
of Rights are taken into account rather than ignored, the Second Amendment
loses all of its confusing and controversial aspects. The Second Amendment
becomes one of the plain Bill of Rights provisions in the first eight
amendments protecting rights of the people against violation by the Federal
Government. It was taken from the plain Revolutionary Era bill of rights
provisions protecting rights of the people against violation by the state
governments. It does not require a Ph.D. in history to figure this out.
It is not that the amicus historians fail
to mention numerous historical facts. The problem is they often miss the
significance of such facts in their rush to separate the Second Amendment from
its actual private-rights-protecting nature. The professional academic
historians' always-slanted interpretations are far from helpful for a clear
understanding of a subject that they have helped make much more complex. It
becomes evident at the very beginning of the historians' brief that their
personally-held views are directly contradicted by the actual views of the two
Founders, Mason and Madison, who were most closely associated with development
of the provisions within the U.S. Bill of Rights. Some readers may uncritically
accept the off-track presentation of these fifteen professional academic
historians about the Second Amendment and the related provisions of the
original state bills of rights. Those more interested in a clear understanding
of the Second Amendment, one that is not in direct conflict with the views of
the Founders and historical facts, would do better by relying directly on the
period sources that are actually relevant for understanding the development of
the U.S. Bill of Rights.
http://hnn.us/articles/47238.html
08/02/18
Another new wrinkle from Hillary Clinton
today: she wants a presidential summit on gun control
“I believe we really should have a summit
where everybody comes together on all sides of this issue,”
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2008/02/clinton-wants-a-gun-summit.html
A man is claiming self defense after police say he
shot and killed a
08/02/16 Dispute over whether to allow
loaded guns in national parks threatens vote on lands bill
An election-year dispute over whether to
allow loaded guns in national parks is holding up a vote on a massive bill
affecting public lands from coast to coast.
Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to
score political points by injecting a "wedge" issue like gun rights
into a noncontroversial bill.
Republicans counter that Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid is trying to protect the two leading Democratic candidates
for president by shielding them from a politically difficult vote on an issue
that many rural voters consider crucial
http://www.startribune.com/nation/15697867.html
It took seven shots from Bernis Martin's Smith &
Wesson M&P 9 mm pistol before the
"I had one robbery attempt before, but he wasn't
able to get anything," Martin said Thursday night, standing inside his BGM
Liquor Store at 11th and
08/02/14 Pistols, Crime, and Public Safety in Early
There
is currently a rather vigorous debate under way about the meaning of the Second
Amendment. What arms does it protect? The District of Columbia, in its attempt
to defend its 1976 gun control law, has argued that the widespread possession
of handguns represent an especially serious public safety hazard, and that even
if arguendo, the Second Amendment protects an individual right, it would not
extend to handguns, which it characterizes as uniquely dangerous weapons that
present unique dangers to innocent persons. This paper examines what the
history of pistols in early America tells us about what was likely the Framers
original intent in protecting the right of the people to keep and bear arms
with no apparent limitations concerning handguns and concludes that, unlike
radio or nuclear power, repeating firearms (of some sort) were not only
foreseeable but eagerly expected.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1081403
08/02/14
Growth spurt projected for nation’s prisons
Three-strikes-you’re-out,
truth-in-sentencing policies to boost numbers
The
increase — projected by the Pew Charitable Trusts study to be three times
faster than overall population growth in the
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15012103/
08/02/14 Sullivan ATF confirmation blocked
The
confirmation of US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was thrown into further doubt
yesterday, when a Republican senator who is blocking the nomination renewed
complaints that Sullivan has refused to loosen licensing rules for guns
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/14/sullivan_atf_confirmation_blocked/
08/02/14 Space Station Crew Can Access Gun
CAPE
CANAVERAL,
Russian Cosmonauts carry a gun on their
Soyuz space capsule, which is attached to the space station. Every spacecraft carries survival gear for
crash landings, and the Russian Soyuz has a kit that includes the gun. A photo of a space tourist using one version
of the weapon is posted on his Web site.
But although the gun has been there for as long as the space station has
been in orbit, its existence is kept quiet. NASA and Russian officials won't
talk publicly about it.
Former NASA engineer Jim Oberg, who is
an author and journalist, wrote about the gun on his Web site. He said the gun
has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress. "There have been cases of severe
psychological strain on people in space, strain that they have taken out --
that their shipmates worried about the ultimate actions," Oberg said. Experts said the idea of an astronaut losing
control was unthinkable until one year ago, when Lisa Nowak shattered the myth.
Her own attorney said she was insane
when arrested for hunting down another woman, and prosecutors said she was
heavily armed. Nowak had flown in space
just seven months earlier. Oberg knows
an astronaut bent on orbital manslaughter could simply throw any number of
switches to do the job, but he said the crews would be safer if the gun was
locked up or left on Earth. The gun is
located in a survival kit between some seats aboard the Soyuz spacecraft. All
the crewmembers know about it, and
http://www.wesh.com/news/15298911/detail.html
08/02/13
2
Deaths Since December Spur Calls for Broader Gun Control
While school violence remains rare in
The most recent attack occurred Monday, when
an eighth-grader stabbed an 11th-grader in the shoulder and chest at Central
School No. 1, a government school in
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/12/AR2008021202694.html
08/02/09 Cheney breaks with Bush on 2nd Amendment Acting in his role of President of the United States Senate,
not as Vice President, Dick Cheney his signed an amicus brief from Congress
urging the Supreme Court to strike down Washington, DC's firearms ban as an
unconstitutional breach of the Second Amendment.
Cheney joined 55 senators and 250 House
members in asking the court to find that the Second Amendment protects an
individual's right to possess firearms and to uphold a lower court's ruling
that the D.C. ban violates that right. That position is at odds with the one
put forward by the administration, which angered gun rights advocates when it
suggested that the justices return the case to lower courts for further review.
Lawyers said it may be unprecedented for a
vice president to take a position in a case before the high court that is at
odds with one the Justice Department puts forward as the administration's
official position.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/02/cheney_breaks_with_bush_on_2nd.html
08/02/09 Boston: Police set to search for guns at
homes As Boston police prepare to go
into some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, knock on doors of private
houses, and ask if they can search for illegal guns without a warrant,
officials are trying to pitch the idea of the plan as friendly cooperation to
residents who still see it as a threatening intrusion
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/09/police_set_to_search_for_guns_at_homes/?page=1
08/02/09 The victim of an accidental
shooting in a sporting goods store
Saturday morning was in serious condition Saturday night after afternoon
surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital, according to Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Heather
Benjamin.
Kenny Franklin, who works at Jerry’s
Outdoor Sports at 507 Road 30 in
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department
said the wound was caused by a .243-caliber rifle. A customer brought the rifle
into the store, and it was being examined by an employee and the customer when
it discharged, Mesa County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Heather Benjamin
said.
“There was a bullet in the chamber he
forgot about,” Benjamin said. “An employee walked past the counter at the
moment he dislodged the bullet. He took a bullet to the abdomen. I don’t know
that they knew there was a bullet in the chamber until it actually went off.”
Deputies took one man in for questioning
and were interviewing six people inside the store after the incident, Benjamin
said.
Family members of the wounded
employee were embracing outside the store an hour after the incident. They said
they did not want to comment to the media.
Store co-owner Jerry Stehman said the
store’s policy is “every gun should be checked before it’s worked on, and it is
checked.” Jerry’s Outdoor Sports has been in business for 22 1/2 years, he
said.
“This is truly an accident,” Stehman
said. “There is absolutely no bad intentions or malice intended. I’ve just been
through so many emotions; it’s just been devastating to me that it happened.”
Stehman said he expects Franklin, who
is in his 50s, will make a full recovery.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/conte...ing.html?imw=Y
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department has released a few more details about the
accidental shooting that happened over the weekend at Jerry’s Outdoor Sports
store in
http://www.gjsentinel.com/blogs/cont...olice_chi.html
08/02/08 Who Should Own Guns in
Legal
scholar Eugene Volokh says such critics hold that the Second Amendment has
nothing to do with individual rights. "Those who take a states'
rights view argue that it is the right of the people as a collective entity
acting through their states and state militias. So they focus on the
first clause of the amendment, which is 'a well regulated Militia being
necessary to the security of a
"If it is a collective right, then
the issue goes away. Then any state can regulate individual firearms
ownership as it sees fit," says Wittes. "But if it is an individual
right, then you have this second level question, which is: What kind of
an individual right is it? Does that mean the state can still regulate,
but it can't ban? Does it mean the state has to respect your right to own
it absolutely?"
http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/2008-02-08-voa2.cfm
08/02/08
“I am proud to join the State of
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=874
08/02/08 TX: Armed Shopper Thwarts Mall Parking Lot
Robbery Authorities have identified a
man who was fatally shot while allegedly attempting to rob a man in a southeast
Houston parking lot
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5527081.html
08/02/07 Feds seize 410 guns from
Federal
agents this morning seized 410 guns, ranging from assault weapons to pistols,
from the home of a man in
Police
and agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
executed a search warrant in the 400 block of
He is charged in U.S. District Court with
dealing weapons without a license, knowingly selling guns to a felon and
possession of guns by a felon. Mr.
Radovich has a felony conviction for aggravated assault in
He
was released on bond after appearing in court this afternoon and will have a
preliminary hearing on Tuesday. As part
of the terms of his release, he was ordered not to have contact with anyone
else involved in the case. Agents are investigating other felons who may have
bought weapons from Mr. Radovich in the city of
According
to an ATF affidavit, Mr. Radovich repeatedly sold guns to a confidential
informant and two undercover officers at a
During
one meeting on Jan. 17, he told the officers, "I got more at home"
and said he had 100 or more weapons in his house. On another occasion on Jan.
31, according to the affidavit, Mr. Radovich said he also had an SKS assault
rifle at his house.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08038/855599-100.stm
08/02/05 Churches
win another round on '05 gun law exemptions
A court ruling says firearms can be banned
from church-owned property, and signs don't have to comply with language
mandated by the state
Forcing churches to allow guns in their
parking lots and use state-mandated language for signs forbidding firearms is
an unconstitutional infringement on religious freedom, the state Court of
Appeals ruled Tuesday.
The decision, which upheld a Hennepin
County District Court ruling, means the
Parking lots, day-care centers and other
charitable, educational and nonprofit facilities owned by churches also may
continue to ban firearms under the ruling.
The
http://www.startribune.com/local/15314881.html
08/02/02
Panel OKs optional school hunting program
Without dissent Tuesday, the Senate
Education Committee endorsed a long-attempted effort by Senate Majority Whip
Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, to add hunting to the curriculum.
“We’re teaching them a sport,” Bailey
said after a panelist asked if guns and live ammo would be introduced on school
campuses.
“What we’re trying to teach them is a
sport that will be with them for the rest of their lives.”
http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_036203122.html
08/01/28 Gun School for Arizona Teachers In response
to Arizona Senate Bill 1214, which
would exempt concealed-carry permit holders from a state law that bars individuals
from knowingly carrying deadly weapons onto school property, Dr. Ignatius
Piazza has committed to provide every Arizona School teacher with a $2,000,
Four Day Defensive Handgun Course, free of charge if Arizona lawmakers will
pass the Senate Bill 1214.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-28-2008/0004744030&EDATE=
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/
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
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