Rural Internet Service: I lost my internet connectivity about 4:41 a.m. yesterday morning, which is why there was no mailing for Saturday, 08-18-07 --- Training Availability: For those who have been waiting to train with me, I currently have free all weekends in October except that of the 20th and 21st. I may also have the 15th to the 17th free. Course time is first come, first served and is reserved when I receive your check for the tuition, after we have agreed on course time. (The summer rains should be over by October and it is generally the most beautiful time of year in the White Mountains.) -- Successful Citizens Patrol Opposed By Connecticut Mayor: For the past two months, Mr. Greer, Mr. Brooks and fellow volunteers in the Edgewood Park Defense Patrol - half of whom carry guns - have walked and biked through this neighborhood nightly to bring a sense of safety to an area they said had experienced an increase in crime and a decrease in police patrols. Though Mayor John DeStefano Jr. has called the patrols a "recipe for disaster," members of the group said that they had not once pulled out a gun, and the authorities acknowledged that violent crime had gone down in Edgewood since the patrols began. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/nyregion/19haven.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin --- Police Hit Hard By Ammo Prices, Shortages: ...In Oklahoma City, for example, officers cannot qualify with AR-15 rifles because the department does not have enough .223-caliber ammunition - a round similar to that fired by the military's M-16 and M4 rifles. Last fall, an ammunition shortage forced the department to cancel qualification courses for several different guns. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AMMUNITION_SHORTAGE?SITE=PAGRE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/17/204959.shtml?s=us --- Oops, Wrong Pawn Shop: A prosecutor must decide if a deadly shooting in Pine Bluff AR was murder or justifiable homicide. It involves a pawn shop owner who shot a teenager accused of breaking into his business. Police say it appears the man feared for his life. He told them that when he confronted the teen and several others one of them had a tire iron in his hand. But it is up to a prosecutor to determine if the shooting was justified. "It's very tragic the individual involved in this case was 16 years old," says Lt. Bob Rawlinson with the Pine Bluff Police. http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c23ddf10-d22e-4a64-9448-8c5b5ef6b337&rss=315 --- Oops, Wrong Bank: "Old School" was expelled Friday, thanks to a world-class body builder. It all happened in Lynnwood WA when a robber, known to the FBI as the"Old School Bandit" because of a bandanna he always wore across his face - an old-school disguise - tried to rob a Banner Bank. He was ambushed by a customer who just happens to be a top bodybuilder, Todd Jewell, 26, of Yakima. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003842718_webbankrobbery18m.html --- Oops, Wrong Robber: A convenience store customer was struck on the head with a gun when he mistook a robber for a friend who he thought was playing a practical joke, police said. The masked man entered Sandler's Party Store about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, brandished a handgun and demanded money. Patrick O'Brien, 21, walked up to the man, thinking he was a friend, and grabbed him in a playful way, police said. The gunman then hit O'Brien in the head with his gun. http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/nationworld/60437.php --- Deer Hunting Attacked As Heart Risk: Deer hunting could be a dangerous endeavor for men with heart disease or risk factors for it, research findings suggest. In a study of 25 middle-aged male deer hunters, researchers found that the activities inherent to hunting - like walking over rough terrain, shooting an animal and dragging its carcass - sent the men's heart rates up significantly. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070817/hl_nm/deer_risk_dc --- From SAF: Proposals by anti-gun New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker to establish "gun courts" and penalize gun owners who are victimized by burglars and thieves is "an outrage," the Second Amendment Foundation said. "Three young people with promising futures are slaughtered, and a fourth one brutally shot in the face by a gang of thugs that allegedly included an illegal alien, and all Gov. Corzine and Mayor Booker can do in response is come up with a multi-level scheme to punish law-abiding gun owners," observed SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. "That's not simply disappointing, it is reprehensible. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-17-2007/0004647552&EDATE= Related Articles: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708160395 http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/NEWS/70816024/1001/rss http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708170430 http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1187330603214630.xml&coll=1 --- From The Firearms Coalition: National Exercise Your Rights Day is just 10 days away! Buy a Gun or Ammo on August 28! Are you ready? Have you saved up some money? Have you notified your clubs and friends? Have you made sure your local gun stores know about National Exercise Your Rights Day so they can promote it and offer special discounts? Have you made plans to join friends at the range? Have you begun drafting your message to your legislators? The Reverend Jesse Jackson is joining in the celebration of National Exercise Your Rights Day though the good Reverend is only planning to exercise his First Amendment right, he can rest assured that those of us exercising our First and Second Amendment rights will stand ready to defend ALL of his rights. Here's what Jesse Jackson is doing: DOZENS OF CITIES OBSERVE NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS More Than 20 Simultaneous Protests Across America on the Anniversary of Dr. King's March on Washington Washington, DC - In response to rising violence in Chicago and nationwide, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., founder and president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has called for a national day of protest against illegal guns. Activists from Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence's Million Mom March Chapters, ProtestEasyGuns, and other local gun-violence prevention organizations will be participating in events in more than 20 cities across America on August 28. Cities with events scheduled for August 28 include: Phoenix, Arizona; San Diego, California; Dallas, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Duluth, Minnesota. Nationwide, there will be candlelight vigils, memorial bell-ringing ceremonies, marches, rallies, press conferences, and "lie-ins" in which 32 people lie down to represent the 32 people murdered with guns every day in America. Rev. Jackson called for these protests to take place on August 28 - the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's historic March on Washington - to demand action against the gun violence plaguing our cities. Rev. Jackson and Brady President Paul Helmke will be available for interviews in the days leading up to August 28. To reach local representatives, please contact the Brady Campaign national headquarters at 202-898-0792. A full list of participating cities will be available on August 23rd at BradyCampaign.org or RainbowPUSH.org # # # # While the Reverend Mr. Jackson and his collaborators are exercising their right to call for restrictions on our rights, we will be celebrating all of the rights given by God to the free citizens of the United States. Second Amendment celebrators will be buying guns and ammo, writing legislators, holding picnics and shooting events, and generally enjoying the joys of liberty in hundreds of cities and towns around the country. Please note the phone number to the Brady Center Headquarters (above) where you can learn about their activities in your area! If you haven't started planning your celebration yet, there's still time! Make your plans today to celebrate National Exercise Your Rights Day on August 28. And whether you're planning to march in the streets, hold a free firearms safety course, or just buy a gun or ammunition, drop us a note to let us know your plans. Please include your zip code with your message and consider including contact information so others in your area can join you. Celebrate National Exercise Your Rights Day! Buy a Gun or Ammo on August 28! Spread the word! Let us know what you're planning to do by sending a note to Exercise@FirearmsCoalition.org and Be Sure to Include Your ZIP Code! Yours for the Second Amendment, Jeff Knox Related Commentary: http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-on-august-28-ammo-buy-proposal.html --- From GOA: Help Needed Once Again For GOA Life Member Congressman Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert 8001 Forbes Pl Suite 102 Springfield VA 22151 (703) 321-8585 http://www.gunowners.org August 17, 2007 Dear GOA Member, You did it! We have a GOA Life Member in Congress. Dr. Paul Broun is now the newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He comes to Washington with a message that the media in his district acknowledge was: "no more business as usual." Broun won a hard-fought, come-from-behind race to win the runoff election in Georgia's tenth congressional district. Broun has told GOA that without the support of GOA members from around the country contributing so generously, he would probably not been able to make it. After all, his margin of victory was 394 votes out of over 46,000 cast. Broun mortgaged his home and took out other loans in order to scrape together the funds needed for his campaign. He was substantially outspent by the establishment-backed candidate. Dr. Broun has put it all on the line, and now it is time for us to step up to the plate for him. So, I am asking you to join me in supporting Paul Broun one more time. He needs to get his debts paid off by the end of the year in order to be able to show the establishment that he is ready for next year's primary. If not, the establishment is sure to find another opponent to run against him in 2008. Please, go to Broun's web site at http://www.paulbroun.com/111.html to donate online. If you wish, you can send your check to Paul Broun Committee, P.O. Box 7165, Athens, GA 30604. Sincerely, Tim Macy Vice-Chairman --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts from the various states are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/ --- From John Farnam: 14 Aug 07 The situation in Brazil, from a friend working there: "Violent crime here is out of control! My company is concerned mostly with car-jackings and 'virtual kidnappings,' where VCAs force you off the road, commandeer you and your car at gunpoint, and then force you to a local ATM where you withdraw all the cash you can. As soon as they have cash in hand, most victims are murdered anyway. No witnesses that way. The moment you give them what they want, you're dead! And, as one might expect, Brazil's gun laws are extremely restrictive. Only politicians and bureaucrats are allowed to be adequately armed. For peons, permits-to-purchase take months, sometimes years, to obtain. When one can find guns for sale legally, selection is skimpy. Ammunition is also difficult to come by, so training people adequately is impossible. Interestingly, obtaining guns illegally is easy and inexpensive. East-European Kalashnikovs are for sale everywhere for less than $100.00. As is the case in South Africa, most VCAs show up with AKs, rather than pistols! CCW permits are impossible for all but the politically connected. Who don't 'know someone,' have no chance (much like NYC and CA, eh?). My favorite international travel question, which I ask of all our local security teams: 'With what type of firearm might I want to be familiar? And, where might I find a copy in your vehicle?' Comment: "Victims," and lots of them, keep nanny-state politicians and bureaucrats in business and in their cushy jobs. Their utter lack of concern for innocent human life is indeed something to behold! Restrictive guns laws, as described in the foregoing, are designed solely to manufacture victims. They have no other purpose. "The more crime you have, the more government you need." It is a formula not lost upon the politically astute and morally debased. In politics, the two go together! In the interim, we have to look for ways around stupid restrictions, which are, after all, designed only to discourage VBCs and the rest of the unimaginative. There are only two kinds of people in this world: Those who are going somewhere, and those who are going nowhere! /John 14 Aug 07 More on Brazil, from another friend: "Having been in Brazil many times, I assure you the kidnapping situation you described is absolutely true. All people we met there had a similar story from someone in their family. Stop at a light, and, before you know it, there is a gun at your head and you're heading to an ATM, and likely enjoying the last few minutes of your life. Worse yet, this anarchy is not confined to Brazil. Friends in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico are experiencing the same thing. Columbians have elevated it to an art form! When they kidnap someone, they have computers on-hand to do transactions from credit cards immediately. They make ransom demands of all of the person's family and friends and clean them out. It happens so fast, the trail is cold by the time authorities become involved." Comment: As the USA continues down the slippery slope toward third-world status, owing to our federal government's conscious decision not to enforce immigration laws, this kind of violent crime will become as common here as it is down south. The kidnapping/hostage/murder of the physician's family in CT is a sign of things to come. VCAs, including hoards of illegal aliens, who have no reason to fear local authorities, will soon realize how easy and lucrative this crime is, and how unlikely it is they'll ever get caught. Once again, we're all going to have to decide for ourselves if we want to be live Operators, or dead amateurs, and prepare accordingly. You're on your own! /John 15 Aug 07 A student comments on ammunition for light, compact pistols: "I carry a G36 (single column, 45ACP). I shot it at our last Class, and I used different brands of ammunition as the Course progressed. Full-power, Federal 230 gr hardball worked fine. Less powerful CCI Blazer did not work nearly as well, as a consistently tight grip was required to prevent failures to extract. Cor-Bon DPX 165gr (the "Compact-Gun" load) and Cor-Bon PowerBall cycled the slide with great authority, enough so that I could relax my grip and still depend on the pistol cycling normally. I could materially feel the effect of having to hold the gun very tight in order to persuade wimpy loads to cycle through the pistol. It is actually more tiring having to consistently put a white-knuckle grip on the gun than feeling sharp recoil. However, the sharper the recoil, the more tendinitis develops in my strong-side elbow. In the end, it is my recommendation carrying and practicing with full-power loads, particularly with a compact pistol. With heavy use, you'll need a band-aid or two for abrasions on your hand, but its better than inveterate grip fatigue from shooting low-power ammunition, along with the chronic anxiety that inexorably attaches to an unreliable gun!" Comment: When tendinitis rears its ugly head more than occasionally, you may be compelled to abandon your compact pistols in 45ACP, 45GAP, and 40S&W in favor of one in 9mm. At the end of the day, you'll need something you can live with: something that you can (1) fit into your life, (2) that works reliably, but (3) doesn't beat you to death! /John (One of the nice features of revolvers is that, within limits, they don't seem to care how tightly or loosely your grip them nor if you cock your wrist while doing so. Granted that gripping them with inconsistent pressure and wrist position will affect bullet placement at longer ranges, at bad-breath range the gun will still function and the shot will go quite near its intended point of impact.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .