Ohio Castle-Doctrine Bill Receives Committee Assignment: Buckeye Firearms Association is pleased to announce that Senator Steve Buehrer's Castle Doctrine legislation, which concerns protecting crime victims and restoring the presumption of innocence to those forced to act in self-defense, has received a committee assignment. http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article-3807--0-0.html Related Article: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=359901&Category=13&subCategoryID= --- Ohio Woman Charged In Self-Defense Shooting: A Cincinnati woman is charged with felonious assault after police said she shot a man who came to her home. In court Wednesday, officials said that Janice Young had a protection order against Eugene Vassar. On Tuesday, officials said, Vassar came to Young's home on Beech Street. At some point, police said, Young pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and fired twice, hitting Vassar both times. http://www.wlwt.com/news/13536614/detail.html --- Some Texans Could Lose CHL's: People who received concealed handgun permits through a Harris County deputy constable charged with falsely claiming his students had completed the proper training could have their licenses suspended or revoked, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said Tuesday. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4904409.html --- Japanese Geeks Arming Selves: Police in Tokyo's electronics district, Akihabara, have become alarmed at the number of what they call 'geeky types' found to be carrying knives. It seems that the much-put-upon fans of comics and computer games have decided they are sick of being bullied and are not going to take it any more. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/20/1957108.htm?section=world --- Swiss Await Showdown Over RKBA: Opposition to its guns-at-home culture seems to have gained momentum and critics are launching a people's initiative on the issue. Attitudes towards firearms may be changing in Switzerland, which is well known for its militia army, strong traditions and liberal gun laws. A recent survey found that two out of three Swiss want to ban army weapons from private households... http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Swiss_await_showdown_over_guns_and_bullets.html?siteSect=105&sid=7941744&cKey=1182262486000 Related Article: http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Parliament_gets_tough_in_weapons_debate.html?siteSect=105&sid=7946189&cKey=1182354007000 --- Tangentially Related: The editor of The Wall Street Journal analyzes Michael Bloomberg's shedding of his nominal Republican status. "The Dems have of late been playing down gun control, figuring that they have more to lose than to gain from a strong antigun stand. They would do the same with abortion if they thought it would profit them politically... Bloomberg, by contrast, is a conviction politician, and his convictions match those of the liberal media." http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010234 --- From AzCDL: PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY! SB 1251, which strengthens the "public establishment or event" storage requirements that were signed by the Governor last year, passed the Senate Final Read on June 18th by a vote of 16-11-3 (http://tinyurl.com/37txcn) . It is now headed to the Governor's desk. SB 1251 passed the House on June 4th by a vote of 32-23-5 (http://tinyurl.com/3drakp). SB 1251 prohibits permanently recording information about the weapon or individual. It defines "readily accessible." If an "operator" doesn't comply, they can't prohibit weapons. An amendment adopted in the House caps concealed weapons permit fees at $65. It is very important to contact the Governor and urge her to sign SB 1251 into law. You can use your own message, or you can use the cut-and-paste message below. Her email address is azgov@az.gov. Please send a courtesy copy of your message to president@AzCDL.org. You can also fax a letter to her at 602-542-1381. Or you can mail it to her at the following address: The Honorable Janet Napolitano Governor of Arizona 1700 West Washington Phoenix, Arizona 85007 Subject: Please sign SB 1251 Governor Napolitano: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that SB 1251 is awaiting your signature. I urge you to sign SB 1251 into law. SB 1251 clarifies the "public establishment or event" storage requirements that you signed into law last year. Compliance with this legislation, by both State agencies and municipalities, has been uneven. Law-abiding citizens never know what to expect when they approach a "public establishment." Will they be turned away? Will they be treated as if they were a criminal being jailed? How will their weapon be safeguarded? Are proper safety procedures being followed? Is information about them and their weapon being unnecessarily recorded in a database? Some agencies and municipalities have already solved the problem by simply taking down their "No Weapons" signs. Others have provided bus-depot style lockers, minimizing unsafe weapons handling by third parties. With the rest, it's a hodge-podge of malicious compliance, ranging from bullying taxpayers to go away, to unsafely tossing our weapons into drawers or bags. There are no statutory provisions in place that compel an agency or municipality to comply with the statutory storage requirements. SB 1251 remedies this by preventing non-complying agencies and municipalities from prohibiting weapons unless they follow the law. This is not an unfunded mandate! Storage requirements only apply if an agency or municipality chooses to ban weapons. Removing "No Weapons" signs is the most cost effective, efficient and safest way to deal with the issue. SB 1251 does NOT change that in any way. SB 1251 was amended in the House to cap concealed carry (CCW) permit fees at $65. Currently, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) has the ability to raise fees administratively, without approval from you or the legislature. Thanks to improvements you signed into law, DPS processed over 22,000 new CCW permit applications in 2006. At $65 each, that's a windfall of over $1.4 Million to the State treasury. This year, DPS attempted to corral this cash-cow for their own use via SB 1245. If SB 1245 had become law, it would have been an incentive to constantly raise fees. DPS would have had their very own money tree independent of the budget process. Right now, without increasing fees, DPS can significantly improve the number of CCW applicants, and boost the revenue stream to the State treasury, by eliminating the administrative restrictions they have imposed on the CCW permit process. They should be encouraged to do that. After exhausting administrative remedies, if DPS feels it necessary to increase fees, let them make their case to the legislature, just like every other state agency must do when they feel the need for a greater revenue stream. Again, I urge you to sign SB 1251 into law. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, AZ zip-code telephone number You can also go to the Governor's website, http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp, where you will find a fill-in-the-blanks form to register your opinion. For "subject", scroll down and select "Legislation." For "topic", fill in "SB 1251." You can add your own polite message urging her to sign SB 1251 in the "message/comment" area, or you can use the cut-and-paste message above. You can call her office toll free using this number: 1-800-253-0883 Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html 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 .