No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.5/256 - Release Date: 2/10/2006 Kansas Considers Stand-Your-Ground Bill: Kansas joins the list of states considering abolition of a duty to retreat when threatened with force. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13833427.htm --- New Hampshire Police Chief Association Opposes Stand-Your-Ground Bill: New Hampton Police Chief Nathaniel Sawyer, president of the state Association of Chiefs of Police, said the organization opposes the bill as it is now written. http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=28533 --- Wyoming Bill Would Expand Hunters' Carry Rights: A bill in Wyoming would remove a ban on hunters carrying automatic firearms or sound-suppressed firearms, so long as they are not using them to hunt. The bill would also remove the ban on firearm carry by archery hunters. http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/02/09/news/wyoming/c46741f0be7fa75187257110006178c1.txt --- Illinois Bill Would Further Restrict Gun Owners: A bill in the legislature would require gun owners in homes with minors who do not have their own Firearm Owner Identification Cards to install trigger locks or disassemble their firearms. http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2006/02/09/news/news03.txt --- Machine-Gun Charges Against ISP Sergeant Challenged: The attorney for an Illinois State Police sergeant charged with illegal possession of a M4 carbine says that the gun is registered to the ISP and that the sergeant had it for training other officers. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisstatenews/story/21A115E7CF1C712B862571100019A71D?OpenDocument --- Pro-RKBA Democrat Files For Oregon Congressional Race: Second Amendment crusader Chuck Butcher has filed as a Democratic candidate for the state's Second Congressional District. Butcher will oppose Bend environmentalist Scott Silver in the May 16 Democratic primary. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1139472544255900.xml&storylist=orlocal --- Partial Pre-Trial Victory In Arizona Trail-Shooting Case: A judge has ruled that the jury can hear that the deceased had a reputation for aggression but not of specific acts he had committed. The judge also ruled that the shooter's firearms knowledge is admissible but not that he had studied karate at least 20 years earlier. http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=124667 --- Goleta Postal Shooting, Part 2: John Longenecker continues his analysis of the role of the armed citizen as a crime-stopper. http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/longenecker/2006/02/goleta-postal-shooting-part-ii-still.html --- Britain Offers Knife Amnesty: Britain will conduct a nationwide amnesty for those surrendering knives between May 24 and June 30. (Too bad that they are not offering a buyback program - it might be a good way for the elderly to supplement their pensions.) http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article344223.ece --- London Officers Will Not Face Discipline Over Table-Leg Shooting: In a six-year-old case, two officers have finally been told that they will not be disciplined in the fatal shooting of a man who had been reported to be carrying a sawed-off shotgun, which turned out to be a table leg. (Those new to the mailing list may not know the details of the case, in which Force Science Research Center director Bill Lewinski was involved - I will forward his newletter on that topic will on request.) http://www.guardian.co.uk/gun/Story/0,,1705820,00.html?gusrc=rss --- Two Stolen Handguns Recovered In Toronto: Police have recovered two of 40 handguns stolen from locked cabinets in the home of a collector who was hospitalized at the time. (An earlier report speculated that registers of ammunition purchases have have been purloined by gang members, to locate gun owners and target them for thefts.) --- From AzCDL: Your activism paid off! AzCDL supported legislation passed the House. HB 2074, which would eliminate the CCW renewal training requirement, passed the House Third Read by a vote of 33 to 24. You can find the exact vote here: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/47leg/2r/bills/hb2074.hthird.1.asp The bill was transmitted to the Senate on 02/07/06 and, after the Second Read, was assigned to the Senate Judiciary committee on 02/08/06. If your Representative voted for HB 2074, please contact them and thank them for supporting the bill. If your Representative voted against HB 2074, let them know you are disappointed in how they voted and that you are monitoring how they vote on all issues that affect your freedom. Here is a link to find your Representative: http://www.azleg.gov/formatdocument.asp?indoc=/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp AzCDL is closely monitoring HB 2074 and will "alert" you when it's time to put some pressure on the Senate Judiciary committee members: http://www.azleg.gov/CommitteeInfo.asp?Committee_ID=10 These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html --- From JPFO: ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization February 9, 2006 JPFO ALERT: Congressional Hearings on the BATFE In August of 2005, participants at gun shows in Virginia were shocked to discover that while they were purchasing perfectly legal firearms, BATFE agents visited their homes and their neighbors' homes, asking questions like, "Do you know your spouse/neighbor is buying a gun? How do you feel about that?" (1) Agents obtained the residence information from purchase forms that buyers are required to fill out ... a clear violation of federal law. Now, seven months later, the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent wrongdoing by BATFE. The hearings will be held on February 15, at 4:00 p.m. While we applaud the fact that _someone_ is looking into the issue, we remain skeptical as to the outcome. For one, the hearing is being chaired by James M. Sensenbrenner. Despite the (R) after his name, Sensenbrenner has shown multiple times that he is no friend of gun owners. Author of the Real ID Act (2), Sensenbrenner vigorously defended the BATFE after the John Glover travesty (3). Not content with that, he has also refused to allow HR 1603 -- the "Fairness in Firearms Testing" bill (4) -- out of the _same_ committee now conducting these hearings! With Sensenbrenner's record of support for the State over the individual, how impartial can the hearings be? That it was scheduled for 4pm -- too late for it to be part of the evening news -- is equally telling. Are gun owners being set up for betrayal yet again? There's no dispute that the Virginia incidents were completely unacceptable violations of individuals' rights (as well as violations of federal law!). But we must ask, what about all of the innocent gun owners currently rotting in prison or left financially destitute as a direct result of BATFE's capricious and arbitrary actions (5)? Will the hearings address those who are falsely accused based on dubious informant tips, set up by "experts" who don't bother to examine the firearm in question (6), and convicted on the subjective opinion of those same "experts" (7)? The BATFE has been known as a rogue agency for decades, yet no one -- neither Democrat nor Republican -- has attempted to rein them in. The few investigations into this organization have netted at most a slap on the wrist. Why? Because they are useful to those who wish to gather and maintain power. A police state, after all, must have its police force. We must continue to educate everyone -- even those who neither own nor like firearms -- about the dangerous power of the BATFE, and the precedent it sets. If one agency can arbitrarily decide whether an object is "legal" (without any standards or documented testing procedures), than ANY agency can. After all, if the BATFE can decide a shoestring is a machine gun (8), what is to prevent the DEA from declaring your greenhouse a "drug manufacturing plant"? This issue affects all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. Please, please take a moment to join our "Boot the BATFE" campaign at http://www.jpfo.org/bootbatfe.htm . We must continue to make noise about this issue and demand our representatives do whatever it takes to put the BATFE genie back in its bottle. With all of the documented abuses the BATFE has indulged in, there is NO excuse for defending this agency gone mad. Anyone who defends, condones, or apologizes for the BATFE is either willfully ignorant ... or maliciously power-hungry. Boot them out of your lives, and tell them why. The American people have tolerated this monstrosity for far too long. - The Liberty Crew (1) "BATFE Sinks to New Low in Richmond" http://tinyurl.com/cz324 (2) "The End of America: May 10, 2005" http://www.jpfo.org/alert20050511.htm (3) "Rep. Sensenbrenner Fails the Test" http://www.jpfo.org/alert20050329.htm (4) "Fairness in Firearms Testing" http://www.jpfo.org/alert20050418.htm (5) "Vital Warning to All Owners of Semiautomatic Firearms" http://www.jpfo.org/alert20050103.htm (6) "BATFE Fails the Test" http://www.jpfo.org/batfevideo.htm (7) Congressional Research Services Memo http://www.jpfo.org/ATFguntests.pdf (8) BATFE Claiming Shoestring is a Machine Gun http://www.jpfo.org/shoestring.jpg (9) Boot the BATFE Campaign http://www.jpfo.org/bootbatfe.htm PS Only 309 days until Bill of Rights Day, December 15! ============================================================ JPFO mirror site: http://www.jpfo.net ============================================================ LET JPFO KEEP YOU INFORMED -- Sign up today for JPFO Alerts! Just send a blank e-mail to jpfoalerts-subscribe@jpfo.org. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to jpfoalerts-unsubscribe@jpfo.org ============================================================= Regain your freedom - download the song "Justice Day" today! http://www.rebelfirerock.com/downloadjd.html ============================================================= Original Material in JPFO ALERTS is Copyright 2005 JPFO, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this alert in full, so long as the following JPFO contact information is included: Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership PO Box 270143 Hartford, Wisconsin 53027 Phone: 1-262-673-9745 Order line: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!) Fax: 1-262-673-9746 Web: http://www.jpfo.org/ ============================================================= -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .