Fifty-One Senators Now Oppose National-Park Gun Ban: As part of the ongoing NRA-ILA effort to change the National Park Service rules to allow Right-to-Carry in our national parks and wildlife refuges, four additional Senators have written to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne urging him to remove restrictions on the carrying and transportation of firearms by law-abiding gun owners. Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) sent the letter to Secretary Kempthorne on February 11. Together with 47 other Senators who signed a letter (www.nraila.org/Media/PDFs/kempthorne_ltr.pdf) to Secretary Kempthorne on December 14, 2007, a majority of the U.S. Senate has now called for this policy change. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=3487 --- Virginia Senate Approves Vehicle-Carry Bill: People would be allowed to store guns in a locked glove box or other interior compartment of a vehicle or boat even if they lack a concealed-weapons permit under legislation that passed the Senate yesterday...Under current law, motorists without concealed-weapons permits may put guns on the seat beside them in plain view. Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, Winchester Republican, said her bill was needed to protect children who may be in the vehicle. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080212/METRO/756551568/1004 --- Renewal Time For May Ohio CHL-Holders: The four-year renewal is approaching for Ohioans who received a license to carry a concealed weapon when the concealed-carry law took effect in April, 2004, sheriff's offices remind license-holders. State law allows a concealed carry license to be renewed 90 days before and within 30 days after expiration. Otherwise, the license will expire. http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/NEWS03/362663244 --- Who Would Have Guessed?: Josh Sugarmann, head of Violence Policy Center, has a Federal Firearm Dealer's license. The business address is VPC's headquarters in D.C. Which, if I recollect DC law correctly, means VPC is exempt from the handgun ban they defend. http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2008/02/the_quintessenc.php --- Idaho Seeks Small Gun Makers: ...During a two-day visit earlier this week to the Shot Show in Las Vegas - the world's largest gun show - state and regional economic development officials met with gun makers to learn more about the industry, and to convince them that Idaho is a good place to do business. What they learned was that Idaho may be gun friendly, but that it takes more than good will to create a manufacturing base...In specific, the state hopes to attract small and mid-size companies that make guns and accessories, rather than trying to entice a major manufacturer to relocate. That strategy is born from two simple facts: Idaho lacks the infrastructure to support a major gunmaker; and the big four of the industry - which account for more than 90 percent of all firearm production - aren't interested in moving. http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/02/11/business/local_state/130601.txt --- Rule Five Reminder: A tracking dog, the chocolate lab to the left in the picture on our KFDM webpage, stepped on a loaded shotgun in the bed of the owner's pickup truck, triggering a fatal blast into the man's thigh during a goose hunt, Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive told KFDM News during an interview Tuesday in Anahuac. "We found muddy paw prints on the gun in the area of the trigger, indicating the dog accidentally caused the shotgun to discharge," Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive told KFDM News during an interview Tuesday in Anahuac. (It seems to me that I recall a similar report out of Texas a few months ago. Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.kfdm.com/news/price_24158___article.html/dog_shotgun.html --- Tangentially Related: As Sen. John McCain assumes the GOP front-runner mantle, his long-standing, but little-noticed association with left-wing donors such as George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry is receiving new attention among his Republican critics...In 2006, the Arizona senator was forced to sever his formal ties with the Reform Institute after a controversial $200,000 contribution from Cablevision came to light. McCain solicited the donation for the Reform Institute using his membership on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, he supported Cablevision's push to introduce the more profitable al la carte pricing, rather than packages of TV programming. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56177 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .