Clinton, Obama, McCain Oppose "Gun Show Loophole": All three presidential hopefuls have said they want to "close the gun show loophole," and Mayors Against Illegal Guns is holding them to their word. The gun-control group on Monday unveiled a new television advertisement, in which Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain are heard commenting on the so-called "loophole." Clips of their comments were taken from various speeches. http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200804/NAT20080415c.html --- Lie-Ins Lie: On Wednesday, when America marks the April 16 anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy, the anti-gun-rights lobby will stage so-called "Lie-Ins" for the purpose of "lyin' to the American public about how to prevent such crimes," the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. Seung Hui Cho murdered 32 students and teachers who could not defend themselves because Virginia Tech and hundreds of other college and university campuses are "gun-free zones" where law-abiding students and faculty have been legislatively or administratively disarmed and deliberately left defenseless. http://newsblaze.com/story/2008041515330300001.pnw/newsblaze/POLITICS/Politics.html http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5597 --- Missouri Students Seek Campus Carry: ...After the shootings on college and university campuses last year, Moum decided to create a Columbia College chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. The national student-run organization lobbies government and university administrations for the right to carry concealed weapons on campus. Since April, when Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., the organization has attracted a total of more than 25,000 members nationally. The organization has some traction. Thirteen states are considering legislation that would allow students to carry concealed weapons... http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/04/15/student-group-seeks-expansion-conceal-and-carry-la/ --- Wal-Mart Cow-Tows to Bloomberg: ...Gun owners who buy a firearm at Wal-Mart, or any other gun store for that matter, already go through a background check before the purchase can be made. What's the point of videotaping someone making a legal purchase of a product, other than simple harassment? To put it another way, every day Wal-Mart sells thousands of prescription medications that, if used improperly, can result in sickness or death. Are they going to start implementing these same rules at their pharmacies, too? http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=384 NSSF Repsonds: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at a meeting of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition he founded, announced today the Responsible Firearms Retail Partnership program with Wal-Mart. The retailer has agreed to retain records of purchasers of firearms that are later traced by law enforcement for reasons never disclosed to Wal-Mart. The retailer also agreed to run background checks on its employees handling firearms. Commenting on today's announcement the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) - the firearms industry's trade association - said the partnership's name gives the false impression that federally licensed firearms dealers are somehow irresponsible... http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080414006549&newsLang=en --- Philadelphia DA Balks at New Gun Laws: Just four days after Mayor Nutter and City Council celebrated enactment of a package of five gun-control laws, reality arrived in the form of District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham. Speaking yesterday at a City Council meeting, Abraham told members that she believed the new laws were unconstitutional and that she would not enforce them. "They are, on their face, illegal acts," said Abraham, who predicted that the first arrest under the new laws would result in a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080416_D_A__says_she_cannot_enforce_Philadelphia_s_new_gun_laws.html NRA Seeks Restraining Order: The National Rifle Association is asking for a temporary restraining order to stop enforcement of Philadelphia's new gun control laws. The NRA requested the order Tuesday and is asking the Common Pleas Court to consider a permanent injunction against the laws. Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham also says they are unconstitutional. Abraham predicted in a City Council hearing the laws will be successfully challenged when the first person is charged... http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/133519.html --- Florida Governor Signs Parking-Lot-Storage Bill: Gov. Charlie Crist was locked and loaded. Just six days after it passed the Legislature, Crist quickly signed a bill Tuesday that makes clear many people can keep guns locked in their cars while at work... A short time after Crist signed the bill, a business-backed group known as the Guns at Work Coalition sent out a news release saying it would file a legal challenge to the measure "in the very near future.'' Businesses have long contended the bill would violate private-property rights... http://blogs.news-journalonline.com/politics/2008/04/crist_signs_gun_bill.html http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flfguns0416sbapr16,0,4604903.story --- Georgia Restaurant-Carry Bill Analyzed: ... Under current law, a law-abiding citizen with a Georgia firearm license permit may go into any restaurant in the state that does not sell alcohol. That is about 75 percent to 80 percent of all restaurants in Georgia. So the Georgia Restaurant Association is saying they trust those of us who hold firearm license permits to go into restaurants that don't sell alcohol, but they will not trust law-abiding Georgians in restaurants that sell alcohol? HB 89 would not allow carrying firearms into bars. Also, we are not reinventing the wheel here in Georgia. If the bill is signed into law, Georgia will become the 38th state in the nation to decriminalize carrying firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol. None of the other states have had anything occur like they are trying to say will happen here in Georgia... http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/04/15/equaled0415.html --- Bill Would Mandate Nationwide Reciprocity: Americans with state-issued concealed weapons permits would be allowed to carry guns wherever they travel in the country under a bill introduced Monday by 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers. The measure would eliminate a mishmash of concealed weapons regulations that vary from state to state, Boozman contends. All states would be forced to recognize concealed handgun permits from elsewhere. Gun control advocates oppose the bill. They say that gun permit standards in some states are so weak that other jurisdictions deserve the right to refuse those license holders. (Others of us are concerned that letting the federal government get involved in CCW could lead to harsh federal standards down the road.) http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/04/14/news/041508dcgunrecip.txt --- Illinois Prohibitionists Encounter Opposition: Gun control advocates held a forum in Naperville Monday night to lobby for two pieces of state legislation they believe would reduce firearm-related violence. They were met by a largely pro-gun crowd of roughly 100 people who attacked the Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence leadership's positions, arguing the proposals would make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain firearms... http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=172897 --- New York Assembly Approves Infringement Package: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol announced that the Assembly Monday approved a series of gun safety measures aimed at helping law enforcement officers track down illegal guns, keep guns out of the hands of felons and children, and ban advanced weaponry used to kill police officers. The 10-bill package has been passed by the Assembly for more than a decade. Additional provisions of the Assembly's comprehensive gun safety package would close several loopholes in state and federal procedures for licensing and regulating gun possession and also close mental health information loopholes... http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/Press/20080415/ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .