The Second Amendment May Finally Get Its Day In Court: From The Wall Street Journal, "...A Supreme Court decision on what the Second Amendment means could transform the gun-control debate in this country. For now, the relatively muted political response to the Virginia Tech killings may be taken as a sign that, on this issue at least, our politics have become a little less reactive and a little more rational." http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110009971 --- Virginia Tech Student Speaks Out: ...In August I wrote a letter to the president of Virginia Tech, Charles Steger. An excerpt reads: "The policy that forbids students who are legally licensed to carry in Virginia needs to be changed. I am qualified and capable of carrying a concealed handgun and urge you to work with me to allow my most basic right of self-defense, and eliminate entrusting my safety and the safety of my classmates to the government. This incident makes it clear that it is time that Virginia Tech and the commonwealth of Virginia let me take responsibility for my safety." http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/wb/xp-113894 --- Virginia Tech Not Worst School Massacre In US: It was 1927 in Bath, Michigan. School Board Treasurer Andrew Kehoe became upset by a property tax that had been levied to fund the construction of the school building. He apparently blamed the tax for financial hardships which led to the foreclosure on his farm. Over the course of several months, Kehoe secretly planted hundreds of pounds of dynamite and pyrotol in the Bath Consolidated School basement... http://www.migunowners.org/forum/showpost.php?p=192163 --- Romney Interviewed: MKH: Now, you supported an assault weapons ban in Massachusetts. This tragedy is being used to push the renewal of the federal assault weapons ban. What would your stance be if that comes up again? MR: Well, you know, the weapon used here was not an assault weapon, so I'm not sure what the relevance is. And, that's what we have to recognize. The people who want to remove Second Amendment rights will look for everything they can. You know, if there's a weapon that puts our police at risk, like machine guns, of course, then that's something I would, of course, consider. But, look, weave gotta fundamentally recognize the need to protect the right to bear arms and the fact that there are people who are trying to remove that right inch by inch, and we're gonna have to defend against that. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MaryKatharineHam/2007/04/20/exclusive_townhallcom_sits_down_with_gov_romney --- Huckabee Touts CCW: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, now seeking the Republican presidential nomination, says a concealed handgun carried by a faculty member or student at Virginia Tech might have reduced the toll from Monday's shooting spree by a student...A long-time hunter, Huckabee has spoken publicly before about his support for concealed-weapon permits - and his own license to carry. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/20/121616.shtml?s=lh --- Biden Says Aggressive "Gun Control" A Liability For Democrats: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says his party must steer clear of the most far-reaching gun control proposals. Biden, who's been a U.S. Senator representing the state of Delaware for the past 34 years, says some types of gun control can be a "liability" for Democrats..."I oppose registration...There is a Second Amendment, and it's real," Biden says. "...There are certain things that I have strongly supported: eliminating cop killer bullets, assault weapons, dealing with the ability to have multiple-rounds in a gun that's semi-automatic - 20, 25, 17, 18 rounds." http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=10E429E8-D6C5-73BE-6B76159E19DE8802 --- Zogby Poll - "Gun Control" Won't Prevent Tragedies: Most Americans don't believe that stricter U.S. gun control policies would help prevent tragedies such as this week's shootings at Virginia Tech, a new MSN-Zogby poll shows. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/20/125133.shtml?s=lh AP Poll - Women, City Dwellers More Likely To Favor Infringements: The Virginia Tech shootings have left more women than men troubled by gun violence and favoring tighter firearms laws, though overall most Americans express little concern they might become a gun crime victim, a new AP-Ipsos poll has found... http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/4/20/125457.shtml?s=lh --- Dingell, NRA Work To Strengthen Background Checks: With the Virginia Tech shootings resurrecting calls for tighter gun controls, the National Rifle Association has begun negotiations with senior Democrats over legislation to bolster the national background-check system and potentially block gun purchases by the mentally ill. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902437.html?hpid=topnews --- Where "Gun Control" Leads: In the wake of the inevitable calls from the usual suspects, Hal Lindsey takes a look back at several governments that imposed strict "gun control" and the masses of people who died as a result. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55318 --- Pennsylvania College Authorizes Armed Security, Temporarily: A community college is temporarily allowing its security officers to carry guns in response to the Virginia Tech shootings and a reported threat against professors that police later said was unfounded, a spokeswoman said Friday. (This reminds me of people with whom I've had oral and written discussions, who seem to know when they need to carry a firearm and when they don't - I'm not that smart, myself.) http://www.centredaily.com/129/story/74498.html --- New Jersey Persists With "Smart Gun" Technology: Police in New Jersey are testing smart guns that rely on biometric sensors in the grip to prevent weapons from firing if they detect that the trigger squeezer is not authorized to shoot them. The handguns fire only when their internal circuitry and software recognizes the grip "profile" of an authorized shooter--that is, the particular way an individual holds a gun as it is about to fire based on the shooter's hand musculature, strength, bone structure and hand-brain communication habits. (What happens if the officer is injured, has to switch to the non-dominant hand, etc.?) http://www.livescience.com/technology/070420_handgun_tech.html --- Oops, Wrong Miss America: Tough isn't a word necessarily associated with Miss America, but three thieves arrested after their truck tires were shot out by 82-year-old Venus Ramey might beg to differ. Ramey, who won the elite beauty crown in 1944, confronted one of the three robbers on her farm in Waynesburg, Ky., about 140 miles south of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. (While I do not generally recommend shooting tires, at least Ramey did so on a vehicle that was not moving.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55309 --- Shooting Death Exposes Japan's Crime Syndicates: For all the talk about gun-free Japan, Japanese gangsters seem to be able to acquire firearms. (In all Japan, there were some 84,700 known members of organized criminal groups as of March, according to the National Police Agency. By contrast, the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that there are only 1,000 "made" members of the Mafia, America's best-known organized crime group.) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/world/asia/21japan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=all --- From Liberty Watch Radio: This week at Noon MST on Liberty Watch, Erik Rush wants the U.S to annex Mexico. Among the interesting topics of debate will be the overcoming of our new "states" draconian gun laws. Should be a fun collision at the corner of Common and Sense. At One PM, Matt Janes, of "Second Amendment Sports" joins in about dedicating their building to Bob Jensen, former owner of the property and proprietor of "Jensen's Custom Ammunition" for some 40 years. Mat and Dana Jaynes own the newest gunshop in Tucson. At One Fifteen PM, author of "The Concealed Handgun Manual," will join in about what to do if you are find yourself in a building with an "active shooter." Liberty Watch is heard on AM 690 in Tucson, Am 930 in Douglas, and AM 1240 Globe, streamed live on the web at http://kvoi.com/listenlive.php, and archived for 4 weeks after broadcast at www.libertywatchradio.com/listen. (Note: Arizona is on Mountain Standard Time, not Daylight Savings Time.) --- From AzCDL: On April 17th, the House voted to kill SB 1166 by a vote of 27-31-2. You can view each Representative's vote here: http://tinyurl.com/2tj8wz SB 1166 was a replacement for SB 1302, which was vetoed by the Governor on March 20th. SB 1302 attempted to make it clear that the legislature intended to apply the 2006 "Castle Doctrine/Burden of Proof" legislation to all cases pending at the time it was signed. Governor Napolitano vetoed it despite strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. You can view the Governor's veto letter by going here: http://azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/NR_030207_SB1302VetoLetter.pdf On April 4th, a "Strike Everything" amendment was added to SB 1166 in the House Appropriations committee that substituted the language from SB 1302, as well as modifications intended to address the concerns stated in the Governor's veto letter. The text of the new bill is here: http://tinyurl.com/335m92 While SB 1302 passed the House by a vote of 42-17-1, fifteen (15) Representatives switched their vote to "No" when SB 1166 was voted on. However, Rep. Steven Yarbrough (R-21) switched to a "Yes" vote. The following are the Representatives who originally voted for SB 1302, but voted against SB 1166: Manual V. Alvarez, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=7&Legislature=48 Jack A. Brown, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=10&Legislature=48 Jennifer J. Burns, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=12&Legislature=48 Mark DeSimone, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=19&Legislature=48 Pete Hershberger, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=26&Legislature=48 Bill Konopnicki, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=29&Legislature=48 Lucy Mason, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=33&Legislature=48 Barbara McGuire, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=36&Legislature=48 Lynne Pancrazi, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=43&Legislature=48 Tom Prezeleski, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=46&Legislature=48 David Schapira, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=51&Legislature=48 Kyrsten Sinema, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=52&Legislature=48 Jackie Thrasher, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=54&Legislature=48 Theresa Ulmer, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=57&Legislature=48 Jim Weiers, http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=58&Legislature=48 If you reside in their district, please contact them and ask them why they chose to vote against this important legislation that they had previously supported (Please note, Speaker Weiers changed his vote to a "No" in order to enable a motion to reconsider the bill to be made). SB 1166 is scheduled to be reconsidered on the House floor on Monday, April 23rd, so please be sure to act quickly! Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html As legislation progresses, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts and at our website. 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 Copyright © 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .