Who Will Argue Heller?: The lawyer who filed a brief for members of Congress and Vice President Dick Cheney in the pending Second Amendment gun rights case at the Supreme Court yesterday initiated, and then withdrew, an effort to seek time to join other parties at the podium when the case is argued March 18. If the request for argument time had gone forward, it would have been a highly visible rebuke of Solicitor General Paul Clement, who has requested 15 minutes of time of his own in the case D.C. v. Heller. With Cheney's participation in the amicus curiae brief, it would have meant that two lawyers would be advancing two different positions on behalf of the executive branch - something the justices themselves might have frowned on... http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/02/arguing-over-ar.html --- Interior Department To Re-Evaluate National-Park Carry Ban: The Interior Department was expected to announce today that it would begin re-evaluating regulations that currently prohibit visitors from carrying loaded weapons in America's national parks. The agency's plans were preempted, however, by yesterday's news that a gunman in Illinois had killed five students and wounded 16 others before killing himself. And so, out of respect for the dead and injured, who were killed by a handgun and a shotgun, the Interior Department has - what? Changed its mind? Thought better of its plans? No. It has merely postponed its announcement until next week... http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/a-worse-day-than-usual-to-promote-guns-in-national-parks/ --- Wyoming To Weigh Castle Doctrine: Some Wyoming legislators want to change state law to specify that homeowners couldn't be prosecuted or sued in civil court if they kill anyone who enters their home illegally. Supporters say the proposed "castle doctrine" bill is necessary to specify that Wyoming residents have no duty to retreat from criminals in their own homes. They say the principle goes back to the English common law saying that, "A man's home is his castle." http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/02/15/news/wyoming/72ad443ab84b5a36872573ef008292a8.txt --- Idaho Preemption Bill Pulled: Even after unloading a controversial attempt to allow firearms on all Idaho's college campuses, a bill forbidding local governments from banning guns misfired Wednesday...After a public hearing, comments from the nine-member committee made it clear the bill needed work. McKenzie, the primary sponsor, withdrew the bill before it was put to a vote. Even before taking public testimony, McKenzie told the committee he was dropping colleges and universities from the bill. He agreed to the change at the urging of Gov. Butch Otter and university and college presidents. At the hearing, representatives for Boise State University and the University of Idaho thanked McKenzie for leaving the schools alone. http://www.idahopress.com/news/?id=3818 --- Arizona Committee Will Consider Campus-Carry Bill: A day after a gunman killed five people and then himself on an Illinois college campus, Arizona lawmakers were preparing to debate whether those with proper permits should be allowed to carry their guns onto school grounds. Senate Bill 1214, which a legislative committee will consider Monday, would exempt concealed-carry permit holders from a state law that bars individuals from bringing deadly weapons onto campuses of private or public K-12 schools, colleges or universities in Arizona. (Bans on firearms affect only the law-abiding. Illinois is one of only two states lacking any statutory provision for concealed carry by private citizens but that did not deter the murderer at NIU.) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0216guns0216.html --- Arizona May Clarify Vehicle-Carry Law: Rejecting police concerns, state lawmakers are trying to make it even easier for people to carry concealed weapons in their vehicles. Legislation awaiting action by the House says anyone can carry a firearm anywhere in a vehicle, visible or otherwise, without getting a special permit. Right now, having a concealed weapon is restricted to those who have a state permit, which requires completing a state-approved training course as well as fingerprinting and a background check. (Actually, the "Misconduct with weapons" statute has long had an exemption for some forms of unlicensed carry in vehicles but it has been thrown into question by a couple of appellate rulings which clearly counter the intent of the legislature.) http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/225448 --- Illinois vs. Israel: ...The terrorists infiltrated Makor Haim, a kibbutz, sneaking into the main building of its high school seminary, run by world-renowned Talmudist, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. The terrorists entered a library room where seven of the boarding school's counselors were meeting. Dressed as security guards, and armed with a knife and what appeared to be a gun - it later turned out to be a toy - ordered the seven to line up on one side of the room. A counselor, realizing they were terrorists, drew his personal firearm and opened fire. Another grabbed the fake gun from the other terrorist, wrestled him to the floor, while the first counselor shot him. The terrorists managed to stab two of the counselors before falling dead. (Another account of this January incident was already shared with the list but recent events in Illinois seemed to warrant a reminder.) http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Security/12596.htm --- Michigan vs. Britain: When the Detroit Free Press recently revealed that six years under a liberalized concealed-carry law in Michigan have not resulted in higher rates of violent crime, gun battles at traffic stops, more police slayings and other gloom-and-doom scenarios, the newspaper put the lie to all the rhetoric against passage of the statute in Michigan, and every other state where so-called "right-to-carry" (RTC) laws have been adopted... Compare this record with what has been occurring in Britain over the past decade, where a sweeping gun ban has made it difficult to own even a shotgun for sporting purposes, handguns are outlawed and fighting back can get you thrown in prison. According to the Jan. 10 edition of the Guardian, gun crime in the United Kingdom has jumped 400 percent in that decade... http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_workman13_02-13-08_ES8JA6P_v17.38cb7f5.html --- The "Stimulus" Bill In Perspective: President George W. Bush signed the $168-billion Economic Stimulus Act on Wednesday saying it would be a "booster shot" to help the economy get through a "rough patch." Americans will begin to see their tax-rebate checks arrive in May - $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples and $300 for each dependent child, sent to 128 million households. Meanwhile, government spending is up eight percent this year and the deficit will skyrocket, but Congress and the President have decided to borrow $168 billion from China to get consumers to buy stuff from... China. Actually, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says he hopes consumers will "spend it on things that are domestically produced," but all we can say is good luck with that. We in our humble shop do have a plan for that little extra cash: specifically, purchasing a number of domestically produced Bushmaster ACR and Robinson XCR "assault" rifles. That should be stimulating. (Several other firearm-related items are interspersed in this issue of The Patriot Post.) http://archive.patriotpost.us/pub/08-07_Digest/ --- Tangentially Related: While Michael Reagan has never been my favorite commentator and I have never been a fan of John McCain, I think it's worth considering this commentary, particularly in light of the fact that our next president is likely to have at least two opportunities to make Supreme Court nominations. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2008/02/14/ronald_reagan_would_back_mccain?page=full&comments=true -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .