John Lott vs. DOJ Heller Brief: ...Factually, there are many mistakes in the DOJ's reasoning: As soon as a rifle or shotgun is unlocked, it becomes illegal in D.C., and there has never been a federal ban on machine guns. But these are relatively minor points. Nor does it really matter that the only academic research on the impact of trigger locks on crime finds that states that require guns be locked up and unloaded face a five-percent increase in murder and a 12 percent increase in rape. Criminals are more likely to attack people in their homes, and those attacks are more likely to be successful. Since the potential of armed victims deters criminals, storing a gun locked and unloaded actually encourages crime... http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmIyM2ZlMDhkOTFkMTc5ZGZhMjU0ZDE4N2QzN2U2YzM= --- New York AG Files Heller Brief: ...Mr. Cuomo's brief is, in effect, an effort to limit any damage to the relatively strict handgun regulations in New York and some other states that might result from a Supreme Court decision favoring private gun ownership. The brief argues that the Second Amendment does not limit the power of state governments to regulate gun ownership... http://www.nysun.com/article/69412 --- Parking-Lot-Storage Bill Fast-Tracked In Georgia Legislature: A contentious gun bill that's pitting the business wing of the Republican Party against the National Rifle Association is moving swiftly through the state Senate. The chamber's Rules Committee is set to hold a hearing on the measure Tuesday and it's expected to reach a floor vote by the end of the week, the Legislature's first back in session. http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/251/story/221259.html --- Obtaining A Kansas CCHL: This has been the hardest part. Buying a handgun was odd, but it wasn't particularly hard. Taking a shooting test to qualify for a concealed handgun permit was a bit nerve-wracking, but at the end of the day it wasn't anything to lose sleep over. But the paperwork - it's always the paperwork that gets you... http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan/14/concealed_guns/ --- Kansas City Hosts Shooting Range: ...The shooting range has been in the building long before it became a center for pick-up basketball games, dance classes and other Parks and Recreation programs. Originally, the old brick building was an armory, said Tim Laurent, facility operations supervisor for Parks and Recreation... http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan/14/community_building_houses_firing_range/?city_local --- Pro-CCW California Sheriff Resigns: Sheriff Michael S. Carona of Orange County resigned Monday to focus on his legal defense against federal charges that he traded his office for hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cash and lavish gifts...Mr. Carona appointed an assistant sheriff, Jack Anderson, to administer the department until the county Board of Supervisors convenes on Jan. 29 to name a replacement to fill out his term. (Despite his apparent failings, Carona made Orange County about as close to shall-issue as California law allows.) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/us/15sheriff.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-carona15jan15,1,4553199,full.story?coll=la-headlines-california --- Mainstream Media Ignore San Francisco Ruling: On January 9, a California appeals court struck down San Francisco's 2005 ban on handguns, citing that local governments lack authority under California law to enact such a ban...Yet while the San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko covered the story on January 10, I'm having trouble finding any coverage elsewhere in the media. When searching Nexis, I found no coverage of the San Francisco gun ban story in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Post, nor broadcast networks ABC, CBS, or NBC... http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2008/01/14/san-francisco-handgun-ban-overturned-msm-yawn --- An Epidemic Of One Or Two?: Assault weapons are leaving a bloody trail of violence in South Florida - and one of the most telling statistics about the trend is this number: one. Of the 69 police officers killed with firearms in the United States last year, only one was shot with an assault weapon, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. So far this year, the nation has seen only one assault-weapon police fatality. Both were in South Florida. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/378546.html --- Oops, Wrong House: Police are investigating a shooting on the Southside that left one man dead. Jacksonville Sheriff's Officers say the shooting happened at a home on Ivey Road Sunday night. Authorities say Gary Gene Wright, 25, called 911 and told them he'd shot someone. Wright told police he believed the man tried to break into his house. http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=99868 --- Growth Threatens New York, New Jersey Ranges: ...Decades ago, most outdoor shooting ranges and gun clubs in the New York City suburbs were on the outskirts of towns. But as development pushes ever outward, more people than ever live near shooting ranges, and sometimes in homes built on land that used to be occupied by shooting ranges, raising quality of life, safety and environmental issues. Ranges and gun clubs cater to riflemen, skeet shooters, pistol practitioners, marksmen and law enforcement officials. In northern New Jersey, the shuttering of some shooting ranges has left many police officers in the lurch... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/13Rgunranges.html?pagewanted=all -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .