With Heller Pending, DC Residents Turn In Guns: For $100 and the prospect of some cash in hand for Christmas shopping, Levaun Dicks marched into the basement of Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast Washington yesterday and handed a police officer a plastic bag containing a loaded 9mm Makarov semiautomatic pistol. "It was lying in my dad's shed," said Dicks, 31, of Fort Washington, who was recently laid off from a real estate company. "It wasn't needed, and I need the money." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501678.html?hpid=sec-metro --- Why Churches Should Not Be Gun-Free Zones: ...This latest church shooting serves as a screaming wake up call to all Kum-Ba-Yah pastors, priests and parishioners who haven't woken up to the violent reality of the 21st century. Our culture has become the Wild West all over again, except this time around the culprits aren't cowboys but cry babies who have decided to pack it in because life is hard and unfair...If you or your church do not know where to begin or would like some advice on how to protect the few or many people in your pastorate, go to www.ChurchSecurityServices.com and have them help you assess your situation and get appropriately armed to the teeth. (The Wild West was actually pretty tame by the standards of many of today's large US cities.) http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DougGiles/2007/12/15/god_and_glocks_why_churches_should_not_be_gun_free_zones?page=full&comments=true --- Oregon City Thwarts Range Improvement: Two organizations have wanted to award the Ashland Gun Club nearly $10,000 in grant money since 2004, but the club's inability to get an audience with the city council is holding up those funds. Chuck Parlier, gun club president, approached the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission in February 2004 when he learned that the funds were contingent on the club having at least a 10-year lease in place. The commission manages the lease for the city. http://www.dailytidings.com/2007/1214/stories/12-14_shootingrange.php --- Oops, Wrong House: A southwest Harris County homeowner shot and killed a man he discovered climbing into a window of his house at about 2:15 a.m. today, investigators said..."The homeowner says he heard a loud noise, possibly a gunshot, that startled him out of bed," Nelson said. "As he got up, he said he heard another loud noise and he said the house was shaking." Carrying a pistol, Barone was on his way to investigate the noises when he heard glass breaking in a bedroom. "When he entered that bedroom, he said he saw a burglar coming through a broken window," Nelson said. "He shot several times and struck the burglar several times, killing him at the scene." (It might have been wiser to have remained in the master bedroom with his wife and child.) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5378504.html --- From John Farnam: 10 Dec 07 Mall Shooting in NE: A single shooter, with a rifle, fired, almost casually, in three-four round bursts. Ranges were short. All shooting was over within two minutes, ending when the shooter himself committed suicide. First police units arrived within five minutes from receipt of initial 911 calls. Shooting was already over. Police never fired a shot. Lessons: It is unrealistic to believe that police could have arrived any sooner, nor have responded any more aggressively. I can't imagine a better reason for carrying routinely. Expecting to be rescued or saved from harm by police, or anyone else, is delusional. In a desperate situation like this mall shooting, when left with no choice, you must be up to the task. A single, well-placed, pistol shot could have abruptly ended this affair, had an armed and well-trained Operator been present. Unfortunately, none were. Like nearly all other mass murders, this one took place in a "Gun-Free Zone," or, more correctly, a "Criminal-Empowerment Zone." "No-Guns-Allowed" signs are thus contemptuously ignored by those who value their lives. /John 11 Dec 07 Contrast! Many have pointed out the stark difference between the recent mall shooting in NE and next day's short-lived church shooting in CO. In the later case, an armed citizen (the media insists on falsely labeling her a "security guard," because they can't tolerate the notion of non-government-employees with guns) stepped up to the plate and did what had to be done at the critical moment. She drew her concealed pistol, courageously confronted the VCA, and shot him to death when it needed to be. Had she not, there is little doubt many more church-goers would have been murdered that day. Curiously, in the same area there were several uniformed security guards, who, at the pivotal moment, apparently found something else to do. Most government officials correctly believe they were elected in order to "serve." A contemptible few believe they were elected in order to "rule." It is the later group who invariably wax paranoid and believe they are personally threatened when "the ruled" own and carry guns, an it is they who prefer masses of murdered victims to heroes audaciously stepping forward and doing their duty as citizens, and, not surprisingly, it is they who unfailingly insist the "the ruled" never be allowed to do anything for themselves. To them, "the ruled" ARE victims, by definition! Some states with concealed-carry laws have declared churches "gun-free zones. " Ohio is an example. Today, in view of the CO incident, representatives in OH are being flooded with angry calls demanding that proscription be lifted! I suspect they're getting an ear-full from many who apparently haven't gotten the word that they are supposed to think of themselves as "good, little victims!" /John 12 Dec 07 On gun safes, from a friend in WI: "A month ago, I bought a new Liberty gun safe. Since this safe has a higher fire rating than any of my others, I put all my tactical rifles in it, along with many of my carry pistols. Fortunately, I didn't put all my carry guns in it. I say, 'fortunately,' because, when I tried to get into my new safe yesterday, it refused to open. The electronic key pad fried itself! Next week, Liberty Safe is sending a technician out to fix it, but it will be several days that I don't have access to my primary guns! Lessons learned: I'll never buy another electronic lock. The technician will replace the fried one with a conventional, dial lock. As soon as I get back into my new safe, I'm spreading my tactical guns out over all my safes. I'll never put all my important guns in one safe again!" Comment: When we make our guns "inaccessible" to unauthorized hands, we make them inaccessible to ourselves too! Gun safes are surely secure, but they are not designed for quick access, and, when they refuse to function normally, professional assistance will be required to regain access. In the interim, you'll have to do without whatever you have locked up! /John (I normally carry two revolvers. At worst, they are temporarily secured in a lockbox [http://www.center-of-mass.com/] in my truck if I must enter a building where I cannot carry. Also locked in a case in the truck is an M1 Carbine, with a basic load of 120 rounds. My house gun, an AR-15 variant, is secured in a Life Jacket [http://www.life-jacket.com/lifejacket/modellj4.html], which is bolted, out of sight in a closet, to a stud in a wall. Another option for handguns, recommended by one list member, is a small safe, albeit with an electronic keypad, that can be moved from bracket to bracket [http://www.vlineind.com/html/hide-away.html].) 13 Dec 07 Gun Safes in the UK, from a friend there: "When I visited the USA to attend my first Farnam Course, I was astonished at the sight of gun safes the size of refrigerators, filled to the brim all manner of privately-owned firearms. I vowed then and there that I had two ambitions left in life; (1) to own such a safe and (2) to fill it! Unfortunately, in the UK our police (who are there to 'regulate,' not to 'serve') are hyper-anal about us peons religiously locking our firearms away, even insisting that bolts and ammunition be locked away separately. Oops! I keep forgetting that one. Our government insists the only 'good reason' for having a gun out of a safe is to clean it! My solution is to have a number of small, innocuous metal cabinets bolted to walls. They are out of sight in closets and cupboards, with keys hidden in various places. Having these 'safes' in different parts of the house has the advantage of permitting me access to my guns no matter where in the house I find myself. I never know where I will be when the sudden urge to clean a gun grabs me, eh?" Comment: Where you stand depends on where you sit! Risks invariably attach to any course of action, even to "doing nothing." Each of us must select a strategy for securing our guns, knowing that, whatever option we choose, it won't be perfect. Guns that are "perfectly safe" are simultaneously " perfectly useless!" /John 13 Dec 07 Actual use of a Safe Direction Ballistic Pad! This from a student: "I shot a big, fat hole in my Safe Direction Pad yesterday morning! Here's how it happened: I'm reading a compelling, political book that is dizzying in its implications. As a result, after I put the book down, the implications contained therein continued to swirl around in my head, demanding my attention. Unfortunately, they received the attention I should have directed elsewhere! Next to my bed, I have a lock-box, in which I keep a 1911 pistol and a spare magazine. In the morning, I routinely unload the pistol, put it in the box, and lock it up. I picked up the pistol as usual, but then paused, thinking about my book. When I "came to," I was holding the pistol and looking at the spare magazine, sitting next to my Safe Direction Pad, which was sitting on my bed. I said to myself, 'I've removed the magazine. Now I'll clear the chamber.' I then pointed the gun at the Safe Direction Pad (thank heaven, out of habit!), pulled the slide to the rear and let it go. The chambered round ejected as expected. Still musing about my reading, I then directed the muzzle at the center of the Pad and pressed the trigger. When the pistol discharged, I was instantly, and fully, brought back to 'present-tense!' I looked at the smoking gun, momentarily puzzled as to how this ND could have happened. There was obviously only ONE way: The magazine was still in the gun. For a moment, I was sure I remembered removing it, but then I realized I only remembered seeing it next to the Pad. The one I saw was the spare magazine, not the one that had been in the pistol. In addition I failed to 'lock-and-inspect' before 'dry' firing. The pieces reluctantly fell into place! I was alone, standing in my bedroom, with a smoking gun, blushing in embarrassment, feeling really stupid, but also really lucky! Thank God I had a Safe Direction Pad and was in the habit of using it! The report was muted. No damage. Police did not get involved, The Pad worked as advertised. The errant bullet is still in it. Nothing damaged but my pride. I learned an important lesson yesterday morning, and the only price I have to pay is replacing my Safe Direction Pad! It can happen to anyone! When handling guns, you have to pay complete attention to what you're doing and strictly adhere to procedure, never leaving out nor transposing steps. Ask me how I know this!" Lessons: Like most automobile accidents, nearly all NDs result from the confluence of three factors: (1) Exhaustion, (2) Distraction, and (3) Poor Procedure. You may not be able to do much about exhaustion. You may be tired and still have to handle guns. But, you can limit distractions. When handling guns, (1) Stop all conversation, (2) Turn off the TV/radio, (3) Don't answer the phone, and (4) Clear your mind of clutter and pay attention to what you're doing. Whether loading, unloading, performing a chamber/system check, or cleaning, perform the drill from start to finish, without interruption. When you are interrupted, go back and start the entire process over, from the beginning. Don't try to 'pick it up where you left off !' In addition, your procedure must be competent and must be followed to the letter, every time. Steps are sequence-critical, and, when steps are left out or transposed, disaster awaits! Watch where your muzzle is pointed! When handling guns, don't allow the muzzle to flop all over the place. Keep its direction tightly controlled and continuously pointed in a safe direction. By "safe direction," I mean "relatively safe." No direction is completely safe. You often hear this concept expressed, "Don't point your muzzle at anything you're not willing to destroy." Clever, but poorly phrased. When I point my pistol at the air conditioner in my motel room while performing a chamber-check, I'm not willing to destroy the air conditioner, but it is still a relatively "safe" direction and, under the circumstances, safer than any other available direction. All gun owners and carriers should have Safe Direction Pad and, like my student above, use it routinely. With it, you can manufacture a "safe direction" anywhere you find yourself. Again, it is not absolutely safe, but it is always safer than any other direction available. /John (While we revolver users are not at as high risk for these incidents as those who use bottom-feeding pistols, revolvers are not immune from negligent discharges. In particular, small-frame revolvers may not readily let all five rounds drop clear of the cylinder when the muzzle is turned upward with the action open. Always verify the status of all chambers on a firearm by sight and feel, to ensure that the firearm is in the status in which you want it, loaded or unloaded.) -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .