Is Massachusetts Constitution Clue For The Supremes?: As the Supreme Court gets down to work on the big question of the Second Amendment, let us pause to consider the constitution of Massachusetts. One of its magnificent peculiarities is that its bill of rights is written right into the main document. There are some 30 of these articles, ending with the famous formulation in respect of separated powers. It is article 17 that concerns guns. "The people," it says, "have a right to keep and to bear arms for the common defence." There is another sentence about how armies mayn't be maintained without the consent of the legislature and, in any event, shall always be held "in an exact subordination" to civil authority. Is this auspicious for advocates of gun control more generally or is it inauspicious? We were pondering that question because the Constitution of Massachusetts is widely admired, including by such sages as The Great Scalia... http://www.nysun.com/article/66979 --- Heller As Seen From Alaska: ...Perhaps people living here, thousands of miles from the nation's capital in one of the youngest states in the country, are actually a little closer to the idea of individual rights and freedoms than those in older, more "civilized" parts of our nation...To be clear, there is nothing wrong with trigger locks or other means of making sure firearms are safely stored, but we would draw the line at government rules that make the choice of a firearm for home defense all but impossible... (Actually, trigger locks are a poor choice as they violate Rule Three by being inserted inside the trigger guard when there is no intent to discharge the firearm.) http://newsminer.com/2007/11/25/10085 --- RKBA And Presidential Politics: The debate over individual gun rights just has become a front line issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. The United States Supreme Court decision to hear arguments on District of Columbia v. Heller, the D.C. gun ban case, guarantees it... With nearly 100 million American gun owners and a fluid nominating process in both primaries, Second Amendment voters matter. In fact, their votes could be the deciding factor in the volatile Iowa and New Hampshire contests propelling the winner into the pivotal South Carolina and Florida primaries... (Romney and McCain are Second Amendment advocates? Only since this presidential campaign got under way.) http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2007/11/26/gun_rights_and_presidential_politics?page=full&comments=true --- The Second Amendment Wedge: Hillary calls them, "kitchen table issues," the political questions Americans take seriously enough to talk about them privately, in their homes, among family and friends. Whether she likes it or not, one of those issues is gun control...If the Republicans seize this opportunity, they can make a "kitchen table" issue into a "wedge issue" in 2008: one that will decide the minds of voters. One Republican -- Mitt Romney - has spoken on this precise point. In his interview with HUMAN EVENTS, Romney said his personal view was that the Second Amendment granted the right to keep and bear arms to individuals. No Democrat will say that... http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23590 The Romney Quote: "It's the right of the individual. I believe that our Constitution vests in the citizens of the United States the right to bear arms, to have weapons for their personal protection, for hunting and for any legal and lawful purpose. I'd like to see our gun laws enforced, to see people who use guns in the committing of crimes in jail for a long time, but I believe that individuals have the right to bear arms, and any incursion on that right, I would find in violation of the constitution." http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23541 --- Huckabee To Shoot Skeet: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is scheduled to stop in Spartanburg County Sunday for a skeet shoot and meet-and-greet at the Spartanburg Gun Club...Piper called Huckabee the "authentic, consistent, conservative" supporter of individual gun rights, noting he received the top "A-plus" rating from the National Rifle Association. "Gov. Huckabee has been an ardent supporter of the Second Amendment," he said. "He's a true sportsman. He's someone who believes the Second Amendment isn't just about the right to hunt, but also that the Second Amendment is about the right to keep and bear arms." http://www.goupstate.com/article/20071124/NEWS/711240312/1051/NEWS01 --- Thompson Campaign Announces Sportsmen Committee: Today the Fred Thompson campaign announced its Sportsmen for Fred Thompson leadership and steering committee. Iowa State Representative and NRA Board Member Clel Baudler, Gerald Stoudemire, Michael Bane, Bill Bunting, and Lee Ann Tarducci will serve as Co-Chairs of Sportsmen for Fred Thompson..."Fred Thompson has been an unapologetic supporter of the Second Amendment throughout his career and I am honored to be on his team. He is somebody that Second Amendment supporters, hunters, and sportsmen will have as an ally in the White House," said Iowa State Representative and NRA Board Member Clel Baudler. "He has the experience, commitment to conservative principles and understanding of the rule of law that we need leading this nation." http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/5571896.html --- Guns Are For Liberals, Too: If there is one issue that alienates me from my liberal counterparts, it's gun rights. So when the Supreme Court decided last week to hear its first Second Amendment case since the 1930s, and as the College Libertarians raffled off a gun voucher, I felt a bit alienated from other liberals. This experience has forced me to re-evaluate what it truly means to be a liberal...We may not need a compelling reason to own a firearm other than the fact that an armed populace is necessary for the security of a free state. Anti-Patriot Act liberals should realize that if they cannot trust the government to respect the privacy of their phone calls or to grant proper due process, then they should probably not also assume the government can be trusted not to disarm its citizens in the name of public safety... http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/11/26/Columns/Mike-Eber.Guns.Are.For.Liberals.Too-3114793.shtml --- Richardson Stands Out As Pro-Gun Democrat: During his first term as New Mexico's governor, Bill Richardson backed legislation allowing residents to carry concealed weapons. When it became law in 2003, Richardson applied for a permit himself. Although he has said he seldom packs heat, the move was symbolic of a politician who has been largely supportive of gun owners' rights. It also separates Richardson from the other Democrats running for president, who tend to favor more stringent regulation of firearms. Richardson's track record in Congress and in Santa Fe has earned him accolades from the National Rifle Association, which endorsed his reelection as governor last year. In September, he was the only Democratic presidential candidate to address a convention organized by the NRA to promote Second Amendment rights. http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/FRONTPAGE/711260306 --- The Spirit Of General Gage Lives On: ...In the spring of 1775 the Massachusetts Colony was a hotbed of political unrest. The British term for this was "sedition" (inciting of hostility against the government), an offense against the crown and punishable by imprisonment. The British military governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, was ordered by King George III to suppress the rebellious Americans. On April 18th, 1775 approximately 700-900 British troops were sent to confiscate the colonists' guns and ammunitions stored in the village of Concord, also to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, for treason, punishable by death (two very vocal patriots of the day) who were reportedly in Lexington... http://peoplesrights.org/articletemplate.asp?id=194 --- Oops, Wrong House: An intruder was shot and wounded by a resident wielding a handgun during a home invasion that took place about 5:30 p.m. Thursday at 401 W. Sixth St., the Monroe Police Department reported...A call came to Central Dispatch as a home invasion in progress. While police were on the way, according to reports, the man who lives in the house was confronted by the intruder. The resident fired multiple shots with a handgun, and the intruder fled. When police checked the neighborhood, they found the suspect wounded and lying in the roadway near W. Seventh and Smith Sts. The Monroe Fire Department ambulance service took him to the hospital. http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NEWS01/111230046/-1/NEWS --- Jonesboro School Shooter Indicted On Federal Weapons Charge: A man convicted as a 13-year-old for killing four Arkansas middle-school students and a teacher in an ambush and released from a juvenile detention center two years ago on his 21st birthday, faces new weapons charges. Mitchell S. Johnson, 23, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on charges of possession of a firearm while being either a user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The indictment came after his arrest earlier this year during a traffic stop in Fayetteville, Ark. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071126/NATION/111260021/1002 --- Washington Man Sentenced For Suppressors: A federal judge in Spokane has sentenced a 51-year-old man to nearly four years in prison on charges that he made illegal silencers for firearms. Michael G. Teasley pleaded guilty to manufacturing an unregistered firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition. Two other firearms charges were dismissed as part of the plea bargain. http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_112207WAB_silencers_SW.2b89c16b.html --- The Plot Thickens: An arsenal of weapons, including assault rifles and artillery shells, was secretly seized three years ago from the home of a deceased former Albany police official who had helped dozens of officers illegally purchase machine guns in the mid-1990s. The Albany Police Department, State Police and the Albany County Sheriff's Department may have played a role in the undocumented removal of weapons from the home of William M. Murray, 64, a beloved assistant chief and avid gun collector who died January 2004, six years after his retirement. http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=641861&category=FRONTPG&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=11/25/2007 --- Japan Tightens Firearm Laws: Japan's parliament on Monday passed legislation strengthening gun control following a spate of shootings by gangsters, including the assassination of a city mayor in April and the recent murder of a hospital patient in a case of mistaken identity. The revision of the firearms control law is the first since 1995, and imposes heavier punishments for gun crimes committed by members of organised crime gangs...Japan already has strict gun control laws, and firearms are mostly in the hands of registered hunters or "yakuza" gangsters... (When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T262994.htm --- Flashlight Comparison: A member at American Backyard Forums has posted a great deal of material comparing various flashlights on the market. (Of what I currently own, I'm very fond of SureFire's A2 Aviator because it offers me the choice of low-intensity, night-vision-sparing red light for administrative tasks and high-intensity white light in the same package. However, the entire world of lighting is undergoing a quantum leap with the development of high-intensity, battery-sparing LED systems. If you can safely hold off on the purchase of new lights, you will probably end up with more light for less money in the future. The SureFire X200B light I purchased a short while back, to mount on a home-defense handgun, has already been replaced by the higher-output X300 series.) http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=53262 -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .