US AG Promises Mexico Crackdown On Gun Trafficking: The U.S. attorney general on Friday promised to crack down on weapons trafficking from the United States to Mexico, making a rare admission of the role that American-made guns play in that country's drug wars...Gonzales said he was talking to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about ways to crack down on gun trafficking. The Mexican Justice Department says about 95 percent of the weapons it confiscates were made or bought in the United States. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0609gonzales0609.html http://www.azstarnet.com/news/186816 --- Delaware House Passes Anti-Confiscation Bill: Delaware lawmakers passed a bill that ensures gun owners they can keep firearms during a state of emergency...<>That bill now heads to the Senate where legislators say it is likely to pass. It will then head to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's desk for final approval. http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6627384&nav=MXEFM7m7 --- Why Has Violent Crime Increased: ...The truth is, the FBI says the increase in violent crime can be attributed to just a few factors: a rise in juvenile crime and gang activity. Often, these two factors are one and the same, as juveniles in the inner city turn to a life of crime at an early age... http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=246 --- Score, 1-1: A Duncanville TX man is recovering after police said a burglar broke into his home and shot him. The homeowner told police he woke up and found someone inside the house. The homeowner and the burglar then shot at each other. Police said they later found the suspect wounded in a nearby field. (The best strategy in home-defense is to get everyone into a designated, locked safe room and force the intruder to place himself in your protected field of fire, if he persists.) http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13471835/detail.html --- Bringing A Baseball Bat To A Gunfight: An Oklahoma man was shot fatally after he broke into the home of his estranged wife and attacked her with a baseball bat. A spokesman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said it appears the shooting was justifiable. http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_159183920.html --- Better Than A Baseball Bat: A commentator in Missouri applauds the passage of a castle-doctirne bill that "grants civil and criminal immunity to citizens whether they're in their homes, cars, tents or, I guess, cardboard boxes under viaducts, to use deadly force against intruders." http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/COLUMNISTS17/706080387/1007/NEWS01 --- Oops!: An Oklahoma woman, who sounds like she may have been shooting a rental gun, shot herself in the leg after she reacted to a hot, ejected case going down the front of her shirt. (Most people who have taken professional training have been cautioned to wear upper garments with tight closures and billed caps or hats with brims, to lessen the risk of this sort of incident. Those who have integrated the basic safety rules into their life will also get the finger out of the trigger guard and ensure that the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction before dealing with a piece of hot brass.) http://www.newsok.com/article/2991633 --- What Would You Expect In San Francisco?: The police chief at City College of San Francisco has resigned over a question of security. He wanted his officers to be able to carry guns on campus, especially in light of a recent incident, but he was overruled. (Los Angeles Community College District officers were fully certified and armed for years before being absorbed into the sheriff's department as the Community College Bureau.) http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5376569&ft=print --- Attention, Tucson Area: The Arizona Game and Fish Department is organizing a clean up of about 25 shooting sites within Ironwood Forest National Monument on Saturday, June 16...As you may be aware, Ironwood is at the center of controversy over the BLM's proposal to close all 128,000 acres of the Monument to target shooting. One of the reasons given for the proposed closure is the amount of litter left at these sites by people illegally dumping or target and other debris left behind by some shooters. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3068 --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the various states are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/ --- Appeal For Funds: KeepAndBearArms.com, one of the major sources I use to compile these mailings, has issued an urgent appeal for funds in order to remain in operation through this summer. http://www.keepandbeararms.com/fundraiser.asp? --- A List Member Responds: A few days ago I shared a link to an article about a suburban Minnesota police chief serving as the poster boy for the Bloomberg Bunch's effort to rescind the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts access to BATFE trace data, impeding lawsuits against firearm manufacturers by cities. A list member wrote an excellent response to the reporter. Mr. Frommer, I read your article about Chaska's Chief Scott Knight with interest. According to the Minnesota State Crime Report for 2005 (most recent year available), Chaska, MN had no murders, no embezzlement, no prostitution, and no gambling crimes. It did have the following crimes: 8 rapes, 2 robbery's, 16 aggravated assaults, 23 burglary's, 120 larceny's, 4 motor vehicle theft's, 4 arson's, 100 "other" assault's, 20 forgery / counterfeiting, 21 fraud, 11 stolen property, 131 vandalism, 12 weapons, 18 "other" sex offenses, 108 narcotics, 22 family/children, 193 DUI, 79 liquor laws, 82 disorderly conduct and 173 "other offenses". There are 14 more frequent types of crimes in Chaska than weapons crime. There were only 5 types of crime committed in Chaska that were fewer in number than the number of weapons cases (if you do not include those crimes which did not happen at all). Of all crimes reported in 2005, 74% are now closed. In order of frequency, Chaska's crime problem looks like this: #1 DUI #2 Other offenses #3 Vandalism #4 Larceny #5 Narcotics #6 "Other assault's" #7 Disorderly conduct #8 Liquor laws #9 Burglary's #10 Family / children #11 Fraud #12 Forgery / counterfeiting #13 "Other" sex offenses #14 Aggravated Assaults #15 Weapons #16 Stolen Property #17 Rape #18 Motor vehicle theft (tie) #18 Arson (tie) #19 Robbery There were a total of 1,383 crime cases opened, of which weapons represented 12 cases or .0086767 which is less than 1% of the total cases (all the weapons cases are closed). Looking at just the top three crime categories, they collectively represent .359 of the total cases or almost 36% of the crime cases in 2005 in Chaska. This makes me wonder why the Chaska Chief of Police is going on TV and radio to talk about an important crime issue to him that is really less than 1% of his community's total crime problem? We do not know if his 12 weapons cases even involve illegal guns (or more accurately, legal guns possessed illegally). The illegal possession of guns may or may not be an issue at all in any of Chaska's weapons cases in 2005. What a great place to live, unless you drink and drive. Regards, Gene German Minnesota DPS Certified Firearms Instructor Utah BCI Certified Firearms Instructor AACFI Wisconsin State Director Executive Director, Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance www.permittocarry.us -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .