Families Of Virginia Tech Victims Intensify Lobbying Efforts: ...Cho was able to pass a background check and buy two guns despite having been deemed mentally defective by a Virginia court. In response, Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, signed an executive order requiring that anyone ordered by a court to get mental health treatment be added to a state police database of people barred from buying guns. But people can still buy guns through other means that require no background check in Virginia, such as gun shows - vast firearms bazaars where scores of people sell or swap firearms...Greg and Linda Gwaltney, whose son Matthew was killed, are also gun owners and plan to push lawmakers to close the loophole. They also hope lawmakers will reform Virginia's mental health system, which both say needs a complete overhaul... http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071228/METRO/764674229/1004 --- Bloomberg's Anti-Gun Group Advertises In Iowa, New Hampshire: The Bloomberg-funded group Mayors Against Illegal Guns announced today it has taken out newspaper ads in the Des Moines Register and New Hampshire Union Leader to remind the (declared) '08 hopefuls and primary/caucus voters about its crusade against illegal firearms. The ad features Bloomberg front-and-center, and highlights questions from the 16-question presidential survey released by the group on Dec. 9, which the candidates have been asked to fill out and return by Jan. 2. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2007/12/bloombergs-antigun-group-adver.html --- BATFE Stages Dog-And-Pony Show: Spread across a conference table at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Phoenix are enough weapons to equip several carloads of drug runners. Agents said Thursday they found the 42 weapons in a storage locker about 10 days ago. The guns were worth $250,000 in all: Belgian-made "FN" handguns, semiautomatic AK rifles and other pistols. They also found four olive boxes loaded with 50-caliber bullets - ammunition that's big enough to take out an airplane. (As I recall, .50-caliber bullets have been used to take out airplanes - when fired from machine guns mounted on other airplanes.) http://www.azstarnet.com/news/218122 --- Texas Senators Support National-Park Carry: Texas' two senators have signed on to a budding national effort to let visitors to national parks pack heat. Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo is leading the charge, calling on the secretary of the interior to overturn rules that prevent people on certain federal land - including most national parks and wildlife refuges - from carrying loaded guns...In Texas, the issue of guns in parks has merged into a growing controversy over the Christmas Mountains, a 9,269-acre desert range next to Big Bend National Park. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has pushed to sell the property. He has also resisted transferring the property to the National Park Service if the federal agency insists on enforcing its regular firearms restrictions. http://www.alpineavalanche.com/articles/2007/12/27/news/news07.txt --- Georgia Bill Would Expand RKBA: Georgia has more places off limits to carrying a firearm than California. In fact, Georgia has more places off limits to carry than any state in the nation. Shocked, surprised, disgusted? Fed up? Finally ready to do something about it? If so, mark your calendar to show your support of the 2nd Amendment Protection Act of 2008 (HB 915). HB 915 rewrites the firearms laws of Georgia. It is the most comprehensive overhaul of Georgia's firearms laws, ever. It removes conflicting, confusing, and overly restrictive laws, like Georgia's unique "public gathering" law. It decriminalizes open carry, like the majority of states. It includes the Car Carry Bill from the 2007 session that GCO supported. It stops capers like Mayor Bloomberg's straw purchasers. Did we say it repeals the ambiguous public gathering law? It requires timely issuance of firearms licenses - no excuses, and it includes the Katrina Bill, barring government confiscation of your firearms during an emergency. http://www.georgiacarry.org/cms/2007/12/26/hb-915-the-second-amendment-protection-act-of-2008/ --- Convicted Felon Claims RKBA: With the U.S. Supreme Court set to decide whether the Second Amendment gives law-abiding citizens the right to keep a handgun at home, a convicted felon in New York decided to test his luck. The inmate, Damon Lucky, isn't law-abiding. Nor did the gun he was convicted of possessing stay in his home. Still, Lucky decided to "see how far we can ride this pony," his lawyer, Harry Batchelder Jr., said, referring to the federal judiciary's apparent willingness to examine gun control laws critically. So this month, Mr. Batchelder, asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to answer "yes" to a question that makes many staunch gun owners uneasy: Does the Second Amendment give convicted felons the right to carry handguns? http://www.nysun.com/article/68607 Related Commentaries: http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/12/just-our-luck.html http://www.alphecca.com/?p=589 --- Texas City Targets Gun Range: Records show that top city officials spent at least seven months discussing how to shut down a gun range, a move range owner Ernest Randall says is aimed at helping a developer build homes in the area. City Attorney Dick Gregg's billing records show he participated in a series of meetings about how to "characterize a gun range as a nuisance and ultimately have it removed." The legal fees cost taxpayers more than $6,000 from May to November... http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=3c59eaed91b2d80f --- Oops, Wrong Old Man: A Central Florida man who collects cash for parking at a church fought off five armed men who had ambushed him and demanded cash. The 65-year-old victim, who did not want to be identified, said he was collecting cash in the Parramore area before an Orlando Magic basketball game when someone put a gun to his head. He noticed that that he was surrounded by four other men as well. The man said he pretended to reach into his jacket for cash but instead pulled out his hidden gun and opened fire. http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071227/BREAKINGNEWS/71227025/1086 --- Oops, Wrong Business: A man who reportedly sneaked into an east Dallas business late Wednesday was fatally shot by a man who was guarding the place, police said...A 24-year-old man, who was hired to guard the business, told police that he heard a garage door opening, but the remote-control opener had been stolen in an earlier burglary, McDonald said. The guard then confronted the man, McDonald said. The guard said the man approached him in a threatening manner so he shot him with a handgun, McDonald said. http://www.star-telegram.com/dallas_news/story/379326.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .