Robert Levy On DOJ Heller Brief: If you think the District of Columbia's ban on all functional firearms in all homes is a reasonable regulation under the Second Amendment, you'll love the friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Bush administration in D.C. v. Heller, now before the Supreme Court. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) previously stated position is that the Second Amendment secures a right of individuals not restricted to militia service. But astonishingly, the Justice Department now recommends an elastic standard for determining whether a handgun ban is reasonable. According to the DOJ, the courts should consider the nature and functional adequacy of available alternatives. That may sound sensible at first blush, but it could be fatal to the Heller litigation... http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080214/EDITORIAL/749172469/1013 --- CCRKBA On National-Park Carry: The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today is urging gun owners to back legislation sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that would enable private citizens to carry defensive sidearms in national parks. "This is responsible, sensible legislation," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb, "and it is a genuine shame that the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has mounted a campaign to derail this important effort." http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ccrkba-backs-coburn-effort-to-legalize-ccw-in-national-parks,278356.shtml --- Nebraska CCW Law Confusing: There are new concerns about one of Nebraska's relatively young laws. Some say the state's concealed carry law is too confusing. Craig Schnieder teaches one of the required classes for people seeking a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He told the KETV Newswatch 7 I-Team that he has a problem with the law. Schnieder said historically, when concealed carry laws are first passed, they are very restrictive... One of Schnieder's problems with the law is a provision that allows for businesses and communities to set up their own "Gun Free Zones". http://www.ketv.com/news/15287029/detail.html --- Castle Doctrine Advances In West Virginia: West Virginians could yet face a lawsuit for gunning down an intruder in their homes, but using deadly force to protect hearth and home would be a "full and complete defense" in court under a Castle Doctrine bill approved Wednesday. Without any discussion, other than counsel's brief explanation, the measure cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_044220000.html --- Bloomberg And Pals To Launch Own Database: In a new tactic against urban crime, the mayors of several East Coast cities, including New York, plan to launch a database that will allow them to share information on known gun offenders. The database, expected to be operational later this year, will pool data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with information collected by local agencies, including ballistics information and intelligence gathered from debriefings of gun offenders. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and other urban leaders said Wednesday that the first-of-its-kind database will make it more difficult for illegal gun dealers to do business throughout the Interstate 95 corridor. http://www.1010wins.com/Mayors-Unite-Against-Illegal-Guns/1651493 Related Article: http://www.nysun.com/article/71238 --- Life In New Orleans: ...In the course of research for our book on the confiscation of firearms in the aftermath of the hurricane, we heard a number of similar stories. They all followed the same vein: A citizen is pulled over in a traffic stop. The NOPD officer takes a gun from the citizen, and asks if the citizen has a receipt for the gun. When the answer is no, the gun is seized, and the citizen is informed if they will show up at a specific precinct with proof of ownership, they can have the gun back...I spoke with two separate practicing attorneys - one works for the state of Louisiana and the other is also a commissioned law-enforcement officer. Both stated if the police were taking possession of guns from motorists during any sort of investigation, and the gun was not germane to the investigation, the seizure amounted to theft... http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=1226 --- Rule Three Reminder: ...Happened Saturday (opening day) around 1745 (about 15 minutes past the closing signal) at the FN booth.... the first negligent discharge in the history of SHOT show of which I am aware. The actor was an FN staffer, who decided to carry a 5.7mm pistol that night for nocturnal Las Vegas hotchacha. He grabbed a yellow tagged (deactivated) display pistol, dropped a firing pin in, inserted a charged magazine, racked in a round, shoved it in his bag, and in doing so the yellow tag became fouled in the trigger guard. BANG! No physical injuries, much humiliation, and FN spends the remainder of the show coughing discretely and avoiding questions. (Rule Three: Keep your finger [and other objects, including locking devices] out of the trigger guard until your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire.) http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=54864 --- A Look At First-Time Handgun Buyers: In this expanding, population-busting, rapidly urbanizing valley, Southern Nevadans do all sorts of things to avoid becoming crime victims, from installing home alarm systems to signing up for self-defense classes. Sometimes, they do something that surprises even them: buying a gun... Usually, the customer's decision to buy is driven by something - an experience, a news report - that has hit home on a personal level. "It's not, 'The crime rate is up.' It's 'My neighbor's house was broken into last night' or 'My friend's or my ex-husband's or my ex-wife's house was burglarized,' " Irwin says. "Generally, they're talking about a personal thing and not a statistical thing out of the paper." http://www.lvrj.com/living/15538762.html --- Firearm Aphorisms: ...Keep in mind why these lines are not just for fun. You must be ready to defend your right to carry. I don't like to call my right to defend myself a second amendment right because doing so implies I didn't have the right to defend myself before the Bill of Rights. As much as I love the second amendment, referring to that somewhat waters down the entire right for me. If the second amendment had never been penned, we still would have the inalienable right to defend ourselves and our families against those who would do us harm... http://www.lewrockwell.com/perry/perry40.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .