Heller Material: The Law Enforcement Brief: http://www.gurapossessky.com/news/parker/documents/07-290bsacIntlLawEnforcementEduc&TrainersAssoc.pdf The CCRKBA Brief: http://www.gurapossessky.com/news/parker/documents/07-290bsacCitizensCommittee.pdf The SAF Brief: http://www.gurapossessky.com/news/parker/documents/07-290bsacSecondAmendmentFoundation.pdf Index To All The Filings: http://dcguncase.com/blog/case-filings/ --- Guns And Freedom - Results From 59 Nations: There are 59 nations for which data about per capita gun ownership are available. This Working Paper examines the relationship between gun density and several measures of freedom and prosperity: the Freedom House ratings of political rights and civil liberty, the Transparency International Perceived Corruption Index, the World Bank Purchasing Power Parity ratings, and the Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom. The data suggest that the relationships between gun ownership rates and these other measures are complex. The data show that (although exceptions can be found) the nations with the highest rates of gun ownerhsip tend to have greater political and civil freedom, greater economic freedom and prosperity, and much less corruption than other nations. The relationship only exists in for high-ownership countries. Countries with medium rates of gun density generally scored no better or worse than countries with the lowest levels of gun rates. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1090441 --- The Human Right Of Self-Defense: This is the final version of an article that I believe was previously linked in an earlier version. The article is a counter to the UN drive to disarm civilians and includes a detailed historical study on how international law evolved from Catholic doctrine. http://www.davekopel.org/2A/LawRev/The-Human-Right-of-Self-Defense.pdf --- Senators Disagree On Arizona Campus-Carry Bill: Guns in schools. The words alone stoke emotion, conjuring images from a string of recent school shootings, including the most recent on Valentine's Day that left six students dead - including the assailant - at Northern Illinois University. State Sen. Karen Johnson's answer has fueled further debate: Legislation that would allow concealed-weapons permit holders to bring their firearms to class. The Mesa Republican and supporters of her proposal, Senate Bill 1214, say it would give innocent students and faculty a fighting chance in the event that an Arizona classroom or campus ever becomes the scene of an attack... http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0302point-counterpoint0302.html --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the week (and there are a lot this week) are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx --- From AzCDL: Information on these bills and other legislation that AzCDL is tracking can be found at: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html . There are a number of bills that will soon be voted on by the full House (Third Read) before moving over to the Senate. We don't know when, but it will be soon. It's time to remind your Representative who they work for. HB 2389, an AzCDL requested bill removing the reference to vehicles in ARS 13-3102 (misconduct involving weapons), passed out of the House Committee of the Whole (COW) on Monday, February 25, 2008. An amendment was added in the House COW that further clarified that "misconduct with weapons" does not apply to a person carrying a weapon (without a CCW permit) "in or on a means of transportation, excluding any public transit." HB 2629, an AzCDL requested bill that clarifies when a defensive display of a firearm is justified, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 21, 2008. It is currently in the House Rules Committee pending an amendment making a technical language correction. From there it goes to the House COW. HB 2630, an AzCDL requested bill that reduces the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit to a petty offense, passed out of the House COW on Monday, February 25, 2008. If you are not committing, or attempting to commit, a serious or violent crime, HB 2630 reclassifies carrying a concealed weapon without a permit as a petty offense. HB 2634, an AzCDL requested bill that clarifies that a person with an expunged or set-aside felony conviction, or one who has had their rights restored, may obtain a concealed weapons permit, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 21, 2008. It must be heard in the House COW before being formally voted on in the House Third Read. Please take the time to send a polite note to your Representative urging them to vote for the passage of HB 2389, HB 2629, HB 2630 and HB 2634. You can find your Representative here: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp . In other news, HCR 2037, which would add a right to hunt and fish to the Arizona Constitution, was scheduled to be heard in the House Natural Resources and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, February 20, 2008. It was rescheduled for Thursday, February 27, 2008 but has been held again for a later hearing. Please take the time to contact the committee members and let them know that you want HCR 2037 heard, and passed out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House. List of members' contact info: Rep. Jerry Weiers - Chairman Phone: 602-926-5894 Fax: 602-417-3012 jpweiers@azleg.gov Rep. Judy Burges - Vice-Chair Phone: 602-926-5861 Fax: 602-417-3104 jburges@azleg.gov Rep. Andy Biggs Phone: 602-926-4371 Fax: 602-417-3022 abiggs@azleg.gov Rep. John Kavanagh Phone: 602-926-5170 Fax: 602-417-3108 jkavanagh@azleg.gov Rep. Barbara McGuire Phone: 602-926-3012 Fax: 602-417-3123 bmcquire@azleg.gov Rep. John Nelson Phone: 602-926-5872 Fax: 602-417-3112 jnelson@azleg.gov Rep. Lynne Pancrazi Phone: 602-926-3004 Fax: 602-417-3179 lpancrazi@azleg.gov Rep. Kyrsten Sinema Phone: 602-926-5058 Fax: 602-417-3015 ksinema@azleg.gov Rep. Theresa Ulmer Phone: 602-926-3002 Fax: 602-417-3124 tulmer@azleg.gov Stay tuned! As relevant legislation 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. --- From John Farnam: 24 Feb 08 "Polite Society" Event, Memphis, TN, 2008 I just completed the 2008 PS Event in Memphis, TN. Friend and colleague, Tom Givens, puts this extravaganza on every February, and it was, as always, an enormous benefit to all who attended. As last year, the event took place at MPD's Academy. Shooting exercises consisted of three "situational" drills, two in low light, and one in normal, outdoor light. In the first one, you are compelled to engage three, armed thugs in a parking lot, using your car as cover. In the next, you are compelled to rescue your wife from armed thugs who are attempting to kidnap her. Range in both exercises was four to seven meters. Flashlight use was optional. Targets were fully-dressed mannequins that toppled when hit. Targets were visibly armed and perniciously threatening. "Non-targets" were also dressed mannequins, but plainly represented no threat. In low light, you really had to look closely! "Hit-zones" were undefined, and, for most of us, multiple hits were required to take out each target. I elected not to use my flashlight, as the situation developed so rapidly. I just moved, drew, and started fighting! A third low-light exercise required us all to fire at paper targets, but starting from supine and requiring the use of only the non-dominant hand! This was designed to simulate being wounded and down and still having to continue the fight. Range was five meters. Many of us need to practice more with one-hand shooting! Rolling on your side works much better than trying to arch your back. The outside drill required us to start seated in a car, then engage two, armed attackers out the passenger-side window. Then, the contestant had to tactically exit the vehicle, move to a brick wall, and, using it for cover, engage two more armed, thugs, the view of whom was obscured by an unarmed bystander. Again, targets and non-targets were dressed mannequins. Range was four to seven meters. The final drill was also outdoors and required each of us to shoot down a row of steel plates, strong-hand, support-hand, and free-style. Range was five and seven meters. I was armed with my Beretta PX4 (40S&W) and 140gr Cor-Bon DPX ammunition. Back-up pistol was my Rohrbaugh R9, also loaded with DPX. Pistol and ammunition ran fine. I didn't deploy my backup pistol nor Cold-Steel blades. It was an excellent training exercise, and, as with the NTI, extremely valuable, as each of us get to go into each drill cold, having little idea of what to expect. It is an priceless opportunity to test and evaluate oneself, under stress. The best way to approach it is to not think about scores/times at all, and stop worrying about what you think some evaluator wants to see you do or not do. You run each drill as realistically and tactically sound as you can, making what mistakes you will, moving on without hesitation, and charging through to the end. Great day! There were many valuable classes this year, all instructed by my personal friends and colleagues, and I did my best to attend all of them! TJ Pilline put on an excellent, live-fire Urban Rifle Class, stressing optical-offset on close targets, particularly brain-stem shots at close range. TJ is an advocate for one-point slings! John Hearne presented his excellent summary of FBI's OIS data. He reminded us that we're often too polite for our own good, and that we need to look upon VCAs as an entirely different species, as their capacity for violence and depravity is virtually unlimited. John reminded us all that frequent, stressful training is the key to victory, along with personal tenacity. I love this: "Getting shot is no big deal. Getting shot again, because you failed to take decisive action, IS a big deal!" "South-Nark" is the AKA for another of our instructor who presented an excellent hand-on Class called "Managing Unknown Contacts." We all learned how to use posture, movement, and verbalization to maintain adequate reactionary distance and how to recognize pernicious duplicity. William Aprill, best known for his excellent Retention-and-Disarms Class, this year spoke, in his capacity as a practicing psychologist, about Post-Trauma Disorder. He acquainted us with the latest information on this subject as well as treatment options. He stressed the importance of always "staying in the game," in order to avoid "fear and helplessness" that is the source of so much heartburn. Henry Mahmoud and Steve Moses did a wonderful presentation on Team Tactics. He indicated that teams are often thrown together hastily, so each of us needs to have necessary tactical gear with us always, including a serious pistol and at least one reload. Henry said that five is the maximum number for an effective tactical team. More than that, and it becomes unmanageable and dangerous. Andy Stanford talked with us about flashlights, assuring us that LED is the trend, and that conventional, xenon bulbs were on their way out. Few know as much about low-light fighting as Andy! Paul Gomez presented an interesting Class on the "Evolution of the Draw-stroke." Paul never ceases to astonish me with his vast historical knowledge! Randy Harris showed us an excellent series of videos demonstrating how to put your opponent at the maximum disadvantage through aggressive movement, the kind of movement that forces him into aggravated muzzle whip. Claude Werner, representing the Rogers School, showed us all how to run the trigger and move the muzzle onto target simultaneously. He also stressed the importance of catching the link, again, while the muzzle is moving. Claude personally demonstrated all this with his Beretta 92F. I'm going to have to drill myself on this so I can decide how much of it I'm going to steal from Claude! Skip Gochenour had another of his classic "head-scratchers" for us! Skip talked about the concept of "Honor" and "Shame" and the way the two influence our civilization. He went through the historical development of law pertaining to the use of deadly force. He pointed out that in most civilizations, particularly the "Thug-ocracies" of the Middle-East, governments insist on an monopoly on the use of force. Citizens/subjects are allowed no individual discretion. Only in the "New World" do we see individual citizens with the right to defend themselves, even with deadly force, at their own, personal command and judgement. Mike Brown, in his hands-on class, showed us all how to successfully access one's pistol while otherwise engaged in a physical fight. It can be challenging, but Mike showed us some excellent tricks. Mike Warsocki's well-organized mind took us, step-by-step, through the exigent decision-making process. Mike explains the procedure in great detail, far more detailed than I had ever thought about. Jim Yeager, as few others are qualified to, explained to us accessories that come in handy on a serious rifle, and ones that are more trouble than they're worth. Like TJ, Jim likes a one-point sling. He is also a fan of EOTech and Aimpoint. I highly recommend the PS Event to all Operators. Not to be missed! /John (Note that while none of the live fire exercises seemed to involve arm's length distances, none exceeded seven meters. While I had a friend on LAPD who once made a successful pistol shot on someone who threatened him with a long gun at a measured 76 yards, most defensive uses handguns occur at distances best measured in feet. One course, however, dealt with drawing the handgun while involved in a fight. I once learned that a friend in Douglas was referring students to my CWP course with the advice to "ignore all that kung-fu gunfighting Steve teaches and concentrate on the legal stuff." Those who have trained with me know that my specialty is bad-breath range, where most attacks will suddenly manifest themselves. Note that I am not the only one who prefers "one-point slings." I assume that "running the trigger" is what is also known as "trigger prepping." This concept goes way back to when holsters did not fully cover the trigger guard, so that the shooter could start rolling the trigger back on a double-action revolver during the draw stroke. This method will shave fractions of seconds on the range, where targets and their families can't sue and there is an established backstop. I still regard it as a violation of Rule Three, placing the finger inside the trigger guard before the sights are on the target and you are prepared to fire.) 26 Feb 08 Election year! During a election year, gun and ammunition sales typically go north. This year, the effect is particularly intense. This is from an LEO friend in the area: "At Jensen's in Loveland, CO, people were lined up out the door onto the sidewalk! Of particular interest to customers were service and concealment pistols, military rifles, high-capacity magazines, and particularly ammunition. They still have a good selection of guns, but ammunition inventory is getting low. I've never seen such a crowd! Same story at Cabelas. There were hundreds in the gun section. Again, ammunition inventory was low, and what was available was expensive." Comment: I suspect this trend will continue, even intensify, for the rest of the year. I'm making no election predications, but I believe keen interest in personal protection we see currently manifested in gun/ammunition sales will not abate, no matter whom the next president is and no matter how the congress shakes out. We're headed into exciting times! /John (An old friend got a fairly good deal on a pre-lock S&W revolver at last weekend's big gun show in Phoenix, apparently because most of the huge crowd was focusing on ammunition and the rifles that could again face restriction under a fully Democratic regime.) 29 Feb 08 A sticky question: An LEO trainer in the Midwest recently came to me with this question: "With a manually-decocking pistol, like our SIG 239s, when you have fired, need to move, and the necessity of additional deadly force is likely, is it really necessary to manually de-cock before moving? Your trigger-finger is in a strong, 'register' position while moving, whether the hammer is forward or cocked. Isn't that sufficient insurance against an ND? As always, consistency is the key. Either we (1) always de-cock prior to movement, or we (2) leave the pistol cocked and refrain from decocking until the pistol is re-holstered. It needs to be one way or the other. What doctrine do you teach with these pistols?" My response: "I take the position that the pistol needs to be manually de-cocked any time the Operator moves or otherwise breaks finger contact with the trigger and subsequently returns his trigger-finger to the 'register' position. The reason I advocate de-cocking every time the finger breaks contact with the trigger is not so much a safety issue as it is a consistency one. I believe it is important that the Operator automatically return the trigger to where his finger expects to find it any time his finger is not in continuous contact. When the trigger is in its rear position, as it will be when the hammer is cocked, the trigger-finger, when subsequently trying to re-contact it, will invariably grope blindly, because the trigger is not where the Operator has trained himself to expect to establish contact. The result is that the trigger-finger, in a panic, flies backward and abruptly slams into the trigger, causing a missed shot (at the least) or an unintended shot. As you know, while fighting, I don't like 'surprises!' Not knowing where to find the trigger on your fighting pistol is the kind of 'surprise' we need to spare our students. The whole issue of manual de-cocking, and all the vacuous complaints about having to do it repeatedly, will quickly disappear once students learn to accomplish the task quickly and deftly. It is only when they are learning the process that it seems clumsy and difficult." Comment: Not all trainers will agree with the foregoing, but, after many years of observing it done both ways, I am persuaded this is the best policy with regard to this thorny issue. /John (This is not the way I have taught it and I still have not fully digested John's argument. What about operators who use Glocks with the conventional trigger-return spring? Many of my students have had to struggle to reach the safety/decocking levers without compromising the firing grip, which is a big concern to me until one is certain that the fight is over. Life is so much simpler when one sticks with handguns that have already decided if they want to be single-action or double-action!) -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .