DC Files Heller Brief: The city's legal brief in the District of Columbia v. Heller case was filed yesterday. The case marks the first time in 70 years the Supreme Court will consider the Second Amendment. The brief's three-pronged argument says the Constitution protects only the rights of militias to bear firearms and not the rights of individuals. It says the amendment was only meant to restrict Congress from disarming state militias and does not constrain states from enacting firearms regulations. Attorneys will also argue the District's gun laws do not infringe on the right to bear arms in part because the Constitution permits "reasonable restrictions" on firearms. Arguments in the case are expected to take place in March, with a ruling by the high court possible by June. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080105/METRO/682529164/1004 Another View: The District told the Supreme Court yesterday that even if the Second Amendment affords an individual right to possess firearms, the city's ban on handguns is a reasonable restriction to prevent the "tragic harms" brought by gun violence in an urban setting. "Where a legislature has articulated proper reasons for enacting a gun-control law, with meaningful supporting evidence, and that law does not deprive the people of reasonable means to defend themselves, it should be upheld," District lawyers wrote in a 79-page brief. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010402538.html?hpid=moreheadlines And Yet Another: Only the federal government - not the 50 states and not the District of Columbia - is subject to the provisions of the Second Amendment that protect the right to keep and bear arms, lawyers for the district argued Friday in a written brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. The district is seeking to preserve its three-decade ban on handgun possession after a federal appeals court ruled in March that the ban is an unconstitutional infringement on an individual's right to keep and bear arms. http://www.examiner.com/a-1138708~Lawyers_argue_that_D_C___states_unencumbered_by_2nd_Amendment.html The Actual Brief: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/documents/dcvhellerbrief010408.pdf --- Candidates Ignore Bloomberg Questionnaire: The Republican and Democratic candidates running for president have largely ignored Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun questionnaire despite his stated desire to influence the national debate on the topic. None answered the questionnaire that Bloomberg's anti-gun coalition released on Dec. 9 and paid $22,200 to publicize last week in full page newspaper ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. Bloomberg spokesman Jason Post said no candidate responded by the Jan. 2 deadline; one asked for an extension, so the new deadline is Jan. 14. Post declined to say which candidate wanted more time. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--bloomberg-gunsurv0104jan04,0,533659.story --- Competing Gun Bills In Georgia: ...But there's more. Some of the GeorgiaCarry folks think the NRA is out of step with what Georgia sportsmen and shooters want, and is putting forward its plan as a counter-measure. (It does, however, contain some things the NRA wants and has supported in other states, and some of the backers don't view the upcoming fight so much as a confrontation with the NRA as a simple disagreement among advocates of gun rights.) http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news866176.html --- Georgia County Rescinds Park-Carry Ban: Gun owners now are free to pack heat in Athens parks. The Athens-Clarke Commission will repeal a local law banning the possession of firearms in parks next month, under pressure from a gun-rights group, and can't enforce the law in the meantime. Commissioners met in closed session late Wednesday night to discuss a lawsuit filed in November by Fayetteville-based GeorgiaCarry.org. While commissioners believe people should not carry guns in parks, they reluctantly decided not to defend the ordinance in light of a recent Georgia Court of Appeals decision, Athens-Clarke officials said. http://onlineathens.com/stories/010408/news_20080104057.shtml --- Grand Jury Refuse To Indict Student Over Airsoft Gun: A Clarke County grand jury on Wednesday refused to indict a University of Georgia graduate who campus police arrested last year on felony weapons charges for a recreational pellet gun they found in his car on campus. Douglas Kyle McClure, of Hoschton, was arrested Feb. 17 - three months before he graduated - by a UGA police officer who was patrolling the railroad lot off Baldwin Street and saw what looked like a gun on the floor of a car. http://onlineathens.com/stories/010308/uganews_20080103034.shtml --- Domino's Would Have "Disciplined" Delivery Driver: The pizza delivery driver who fatally shot a robber last week could have faced discipline over the incident had he not resigned, a Domino's spokesman said Wednesday. Although the driver was being praised by bloggers with comments such as "Score one for the good guys," many corporations, like Domino's, prohibit armed employees... McIntyre added that police had told the company, "There are too many cases in which a person's own weapon has been used against them." (In all the years I have been racking news on the internet I have seen no justification for that claim.) http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/B7B7F2AEFDDE3930862573C500208B0C?OpenDocument --- Oops, Wrong Roommate: The man who shot and killed his roommate on New Year's Day will not face any charges. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson announced the decision Friday. News 2 reported Tuesday that the shooting began with a domestic dispute. According to deputies, it began when 24 Year-Old Brian Sessoms ordered his 16 year-old girlfriend to walk across the room to give him a kiss. She said no and within 30 minutes, the situation began to escalate...After hearing this story, you may wonder what rights you have as a homeowner. Under the Castle Doctrine, everyone has a right to remain safe in their homes. You can meet force with force if you are under attack or if you reasonably feel a violent crime is about to be committed. Under the laws of self defense, when a person is justified in firing the first shot, they are justified in continuing fire until the threat is eliminated. http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/news.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2008-01-04-0016.html --- From VCDL: A slide show (over 2 hours in length), synchronized with audio, of last month's presentation at Virginia Tech has been posted on the VCDL website. The presentation was entitled "Higher Ed and Lawful Concealed Carry: What Is Your Life Worth?" http://www.vcdl.org/VT/VT_Presentation_Small.mov --- From NRA-ILA: Weekly alert is posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .