Ray Chapman Has Died: Ray Chapman, the first world champion of the sport of Practical Shooting and founder of the Chapman Academy of Practical Shooting, died February 2, 2008, in a suburb of Austin TX. Many will remember Ray for his development of a variation of the Weaver shooting position in which the elbow of the shooting arm is fully extended and pulled back into the shoulder by the flexion in the support arm, as though it were a rifle stock. I routinely quote Ray for his saying, "Speed is five-sixths smoothness." --- Secret Service Agent In Truman Shootout Dies: Floyd M. Boring, a Secret Service agent who guarded five presidents and took part in the gunfight that foiled an attempt by Puerto Rican nationalists to assassinate President Harry S. Truman, died Friday at his home in Silver Spring, Md. He was 92...Mr. Boring later said that in addition to firing the shot that grazed Mr. Collazo's head, he thought he had fired the bullet that hit Mr. Collazo in the chest. But in their book "American Gunfight" (Simon & Schuster, 2005), Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge Jr. wrote that the bullet may have been fired by a White House policeman, Joseph Davidson, and ricocheted off an iron fence before hitting Mr. Collazo... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/07boring.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin --- What Have You Done For Heller?: I've made a few appeals now about supporting Academics for the Second Amendment in their work to draft an amicus brief on behalf of the Heller case. These good people have devoted much labor that will benefit us all, yet their costs are far from being covered. Who thinks it's fair that, in addition to doing all the research, writing, and production work, costs such as additional attorney fees, printing expenses, filing fees, travel and lodging expenses, etc., ought to come out of their pockets as well? http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-have-you-done-for-heller.html --- Ask Candidates To Sign Gun-Rights Pledge: The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today are transmitting to each of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates the "2008 Presidential Gun Rights Pledge." In a letter to the candidates, SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb and CCRKBA Executive Director Mark A. Taff note, "It is not enough for a candidate for this nation's highest political office to merely mouth 'support' for the Second Amendment. Whoever occupies the presidency must be someone who holds the Second Amendment to be as important to individual liberty as all the other tenets of our Bill of Rights." http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/saf-ccrkba-ask-candidates-to-sign-2008-presidential-gun-rights,272285.shtml --- GOA Speaks Out Against McCain: "John McCain has actively worked against the Second Amendment and self-defense during his time in Congress. He also has been a spokesman for gun grabbers during state initiative campaigns," said the three top officers of Gun Owners of America - Founder and Chairman Sen. H. L. Richardson (ret.), Vice-Chairman Tim Macy and Executive Director Larry Pratt. "John McCain's so-called 'Straight Talk Express' will derail if he attempts to con gun owners into thinking that he is really their man. If he had wanted the support of gun owners, and conservatives in general, McCain should have thought about that before chalking up his long string of unacceptable votes and initiatives. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/gun-owners-wont-accept-mccain-and-conservatives-should-not-either,272177.shtml --- South Dakota Campus-Carry Bill Moves To Senate: Students will be allowed to carry firearms on public college campuses under a bill that passed, 63-3, on the House floor Feb. 4. House Bill 1261 is designed to give college students their second amendment rights, according to the bill's sponsor Rep. Thomas Brunner, R-Nisland...The bill now moves to the Senate for approval. http://media.www.sdsucollegian.com/media/storage/paper484/news/2008/02/06/News/House.Passes.Bill.Allowing.Guns.On.Campus-3192028.shtml --- School Hunter-Safety Training Gains Traction In West Virginia: Sen. Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, said Tuesday he's not pandering to pro-gun voters with a bill he's sponsoring to mandate hunter safety classes in public schools (SB9). "I don't have to pander to the pro-gun lobby. Look at my record," said Bailey, a candidate for secretary of state. He said he has consistently received A+ ratings from the National Rifle Association during his years in the state Senate...Education Committee members advanced the bill Tuesday on a unanimous voice vote. It goes to the Senate Finance Committee. http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200802050635 --- Weak Restaurant-Carry Bill Clears Arizona Committee: With the state's restaurants no longer opposed, a Senate panel agreed Wednesday to let Arizonans carry their pistols into places where they eat lunch, even if liquor is sold there. The 4-2 vote by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Economic Development came after the bill was written so weapons would be allowed only in restaurants where the owner or manager first posts a sign specifically permitting patrons to be armed...Dave Kopp, president of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, said the bill is now unacceptable. He said weapons should be presumed allowed in restaurants unless the owner posts the premises as a gun-free zone. But the change that bothered Kopp was, in fact, what was needed to keep the measure alive: Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, who owns a wine-and-cheese bar, said he believes few, if any, business owners will actually decide to post signs to allow weapons, if for no other reason than how it might affect their liability insurance...Before approving the measure, the committee agreed to grant gun-carrying privileges to anyone legally entitled to have a firearm. That means anyone without a criminal record, as long as the gun is visible. By contrast, the original version of the legislation limited the ability to bring guns into restaurants to those who have a state permit to carry a concealed weapon. http://www.azstarnet.com/news/224004 --- Oklahoma Appealing Parking-Lot-Storage Ruling: Oklahoma's Governor Brad Henry and Attorney General Drew Edmondson are fighting for gun owners. The state of Oklahoma is appealing a judge's decision that said the state's law allowing legal gun owners to leave their firearms locked in their car while at work conflicts with the federal OSHA law, and that's good news. Oklahoma was one of the first states in the country to pass such legislation, only to see it caught up in a legal fight that's lasted for years... http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=361 --- Montana Man Freed After Warning-Shot Incident: A Billings man who was arrested after firing a pistol in a tavern parking lot has been released from the county jail. Justin Swanz, 26, was freed about 10 hours after his arrest early Tuesday when county prosecutors sent the case back to police for further investigation. Chief Deputy County Attorney Mark Murphy said he could not discuss details of the case, but Swanz claimed in an interview Wednesday that he fired the pistol in self-defense...Swanz told The Gazette on Wednesday that he fired once into the air as six or seven men advanced on him in the parking lot following a confrontation inside the bar. Swanz said he fired the Taurus .44 Special revolver once. (An attack by five or six men is definitely a disparity of force that would justify the use of deadly force. Warning shots, however are tricky. In addition to being unsure of where the bullet will ultimately strike, if also diminished his supply of ammunition, had the men not been dissuaded.) http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/06/news/local/21-selfdefense.txt --- From AzCDL: HB 2389, which removes the reference to vehicles in ARS 13-3102 (misconduct involving weapons), will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 7, 2008 ( http://www.azleg.gov/agendas/0207015486.pdf ). Current law (ARS 13-3102.F) states that, without a concealed weapons (CCW) permit, it is permissible to carry a weapon or weapons "...in a case, holster, scabbard, pack or luggage that is carried within a means of transportation or within a storage compartment, map pocket, trunk or glove compartment of a means of transportation." Unfortunately, in 1994 an Arizona Appellate court decision (State v. Adams, 189 Ariz. 235, 941 P.2d) determined that "within a means of transportation" meant it must be obvious under ordinary observation to someone outside the vehicle that there is a weapon inside the vehicle. This created conflicts interpreting the statute. As a result: · Wearing a holstered firearm within a vehicle = concealed carry, requiring a CCW permit. But, that same holstered firearm in a map pocket, trunk or glove compartment, accessible by a vehicle's occupants, does not require a CCW permit. · Possessing a concealed weapons permit and a concealed weapon puts other occupants in the vehicle, who do not possess a CCW permit, at risk of arrest because of their proximity to your firearm. Yet, if that same weapon were in a map pocket, trunk, or glove compartment accessible by all the vehicle's occupants, no crime is committed. The proposed language clarifies that it permissible to carry a weapon, visibly or concealed, anywhere within a means of transportation. Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html Please take the time to send a polite note to the committee members, and let them know that you want them to vote HB 2389 out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House. You can also use the cut-and-paste letter below. Following the letter are email address lists of the committee members in both semi-colon and comma separated formats. Use the one that is compatible with your email software. Subject: Support HB 2389 Dear Representative: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that HB 2389 is being considered in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 7, 2008. I urge you to vote HB 2389 out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House. As written, current law (ARS 13-3102.F) allows a holstered or cased weapon to be carried "within a means of transportation" or "within a storage compartment, map pocket, trunk or glove compartment of a means of transportation." Unfortunately, in 1994 an Arizona Appellate court (State v. Adams, 189 Ariz. 235, 941 P.2d) determined that "within a means of transportation" meant it must be obvious under ordinary observation to someone outside the vehicle that there is a weapon inside the vehicle. This created conflicts interpreting the statute. As a result: · Wearing a holstered firearm within a vehicle can be considered concealed carry, requiring a CCW permit. But, that same holstered firearm in a map pocket, trunk or glove compartment, accessible by any of the vehicle's occupants, does not require a CCW permit. · Possessing a concealed weapons permit and being armed puts other occupants in the vehicle, who do not possess a CCW permit, at risk of arrest because of their proximity to the firearm. Yet, if that same weapon were in a map pocket, trunk or glove compartment accessible by all the vehicle's occupants, no crime is committed. The proposed language clarifies that it permissible to carry a weapon, visibly or concealed, anywhere within a means of transportation. Again, I urge you to vote HB 2389 out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, AZ zip-code telephone number Please be sure to include your name, address, and phone number. List of members' email addresses: efarnsworth@azleg.gov adriggs@azleg.gov kadams@azleg.gov tchabin@azleg.gov sgallardo@azleg.gov rcrandall@azleg.gov bkonopnicki@azleg.gov ksinema@azleg.gov bmiranda@azleg.gov syarbrough@azleg.gov As legislation progresses, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts and at our website. These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. Senator Karen Johnson has filed another pro-rights bill, SB 1400, which says that if any government entity establishes a "gun-free" zone, they are liable for damages resulting from criminal conduct if an individual could have used a firearm in self-defense. Senator Chuck Gray's optional lifetime CCW permit bill, SB 1106 was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 4, 2008. It passed out of committee, with a recommendation for passage by the full Senate, by a 4-1-2 vote. An amendment was added in committee stating that a lifetime CCW permit must be identified as such on the permit. SCR 1009, the bill banning lobbying by public agencies and local governments, was heard in the Senate Government Committee on February 4, 2008, with no decision made. The bill is being held pending further review. SB 1132, a weak "Restaurant Carry" bill, was scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Commerce and Economic Development Committee on January 30, 2008. It has been rescheduled for February 6, 2008. Amendments have been proposed to weaken an already weak bill. AzCDL has thus far been unsuccessful in obtaining any significant improvements to SB 1132, and can no longer support it. HB 2222, Rep. Marian McClure's bill redefining open carry and clarifying that a person can carry a concealed weapon without a CCW permit on rented and leased property, was held by the House Homeland Security and Property Rights Committee, at the request of the Rep. McClure. There is a possibility that she will amend the bill to deal only with the property rights aspects of carrying on property you own, lease or rent. Stay tuned! As relevant legislation is introduced and progresses, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AZCDL_Alerts/ These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .