Obama Vulnerable on RKBA: Pennsylvania sportsmen aren't "bitter" about their guns and balk at what they call Sen. Barack Obama's double-talk in courting their support. In a state that boasts one of the country's highest per capita rates of membership in the National Rifle Association (NRA), Mr. Obama's stance that Second Amendment gun rights are compatible with new tough gun laws falls flat. And it didn't help when he said the state's "bitter" small-town voters hurt by the economy were not supporting him because they "cling" to religion, guns and anti-immigrant views...The Obama campaign the next day touted an endorsement by the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), a national group that promotes some new gun control measures and describes itself as an alternative to the NRA's "radical" gun rights views. Critics say the group is a front for the gun control lobby because it promotes outlawing some caliber of guns and certain types of ammunition and the abolition of firearm sales at gun shows. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080419/NATION/121864374/1002 Related Commentary by Ann Coulter: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26075&s=rcmp --- A Virginia Tech Reminder: ...Nine months before the shootings, graduate student Bradford B. Wiles wrote a letter to The Roanoke Times in response to a campus manhunt for a murder suspect. "I am licensed to carry a concealed handgun in the commonwealth of Virginia," Wiles wrote. "However, because I am a Virginia Tech student, I am prohibited from carrying at school because of Virginia Tech's student policy..." The published response from University Vice President Larry Hincker was one of ridicule. "[I]t is absolutely mind-boggling to see the opinions of Bradford Wiles," he wrote, using terms like "out of touch ... inane [and] absurd" to underscore his points. "Guns don't belong in classrooms," he concluded. "They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same." http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/guns-on-campus-could-they-prevent-a-repeat/ --- Louisiana Student Senate Supports Campus Carry: Barely reaching quorum, the Student Senate met Thursday evening in an irregular meeting where it supported guns on campus and opposed raising the legal smoking age. After much debate, the Senate passed a resolution endorsing Louisiana legislation to allow guns on campus. The student resolution supports Louisiana House of Representatives Bill No. 199, now under consideration in the House. If passed, the bill will authorize concealed handgun permit holders to bring their firearms onto Louisiana's higher education campuses. http://media.www.lsureveille.com/media/storage/paper868/news/2008/04/18/News/Student.Senate.Supports.State.Legislatures.Gun.Bill-3334480.shtml --- Ohio State ROTC Pulls Blue Guns: Ohio State University's ROTC cadets have ended the decades-long practice of combat training with mock rifles on the main campus because of public edginess in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, officials said. Since the decision was made a couple of weeks ago, tactical training with rubber replicas of an M-16 rifle has been moved indoors, or cadets have trained without rifles, said Navy Capt. Steven Noce, who heads the university's ROTC program. The tactical training, typically conducted around the ROTC building near Ohio Stadium, has generated a few calls to police from concerned people in the past year, Noce said. A year ago this week, a gunman at Virginia Tech killed 32 people. http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/18/ROTC.ART_ART_04-18-08_A1_I59VCC7.html?sid=101 --- Open-Carry Walk to Commemorate Patriots Day: In commemoration of the "shot heard round the world" that started the American Revolution 233 years ago, two local men have organized an "open carry" walk in Urbana for Saturday, April 19, "Patriots' Day." ..."Back in March, I saw an article about an incident that happened in Hilliard, where a man was minding his own business, not doing anything wrong, and he was harassed by the police," Horch said. "We were hanging out a couple weeks ago at Mike's place, and we usually get together every year on Patriots' Day to do something, and it just dawned on me that we should do this." Horch said open-carry is legal in Ohio, but many residents need to be reminded of that fact... http://www.urbanacitizen.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=147653&TM=32442.59 --- God and Guns: ...I think a healthy society needs both God and guns: it benefits from a belief in some kind of higher purpose to life on earth, and it requires a self-reliant citizenry. If you lack either of those twin props, you wind up with today's Europe - a present-tense Eutopia mired in fatalism. A while back, I was struck by the words of Oscar van den Boogaard, a Dutch gay humanist (which is pretty much the trifecta of Eurocool). Reflecting on the Continent's accelerating Islamification, he concluded that the jig was up for the Europe he loved, but what could he do? "I am not a warrior, but who is?" he shrugged. "I have never learned to fight for my freedom. I was only good at enjoying it." http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Y2RjNzdlMjczZmU0MDdiZDVhMzY0ZmFiZTRlZDJjZDc= --- Oops, Wrong House, Minnesota Version: Steve Remer chased burglars from his Buffalo, Minn home with a gun after finding his bedroom door tied shut and unfamiliar noises around the house...Remer was startled out of his sleep by some strange creaking noises he thought were caused by the wind. When he tried to open his door, he found it had been tied shut...Then, Remer heard an unfamiliar voice in the hallway. He grabbed his .357 handgun from the closet and chased the intruder down the stairs and out the front door, firing several shots at their stolen SUV on the way out...Steve Remer thanked police for catching the criminals, saying some people may have been more defenseless than he. Remer bought the gun a few years ago for protection, but never thought he would use it. http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6342742&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 --- Oops, Wrong House, Texas Version: An Oak Cliff homeowner told police that he was awakened around 1:30 Friday morning by the sound of breaking glass. The man grabbed a handgun and discovered two men inside his home in the 6100 block of Teague Drive, according to police. One of the men was still holding a board that they had used to break the window. Police said the homeowner started shooting and hit one of the suspects in the upper chest and jaw. That suspect is in critical condition at Baylor Hospital. .. The case will be referred to a Grand Jury, but investigators said the homeowner appeared to be justified in protecting his life and property. http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6339641&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 --- Pizza Hut Fires Driver for Defending Himself: A Des Moines pizza delivery driver who was suspended after he shot an alleged armed robber said today that he has been fired. James William Spiers III, 38, said Pizza Hut officials asked for his resignation in exchange for at least two months' pay and counseling. "I was terminated, but they're not going to kick me to the curb," he said. "When they terminated me, I had asked I they could provide me with counseling. That's all I asked for." Spiers fired multiple shots at a man who allegedly put a gun to his head on March 28 and demanded money at the Sutton Hill Apartments, 2100 S.E. King Ave. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/NEWS/80418009 --- Rule One, Rule Two Reminder: A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot in the face outside his Deptford home Thursday afternoon was recovering at Cooper University Hospital in critical but stable condition today, authorities said. The boy's father is a Deptford Police officer, Gloucester County authorities said...Bernie Weisenfeld, a spokesman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office, said two Deptford police officers were on the patio behind the home, in a small cul-de-sac in the Woodbury Gardens section, cleaning their service weapons around 4 p.m. One of the firearms discharged accidentally around 4:07 p.m., when a 911 call was made, Weisenfeld said. (Rule One: All firearms are always loaded. Rule Two: Don't let the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.) http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/1686398-2-year-old-son-of-N-J-officer-recovering-gunshot-wound/ --- Rule Three Reminder - Follow-Up: ...Neither of the boy's parents displayed gross negligence that night as Whiteaker was cleaning his Sig Sauer .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, Sutter County District Attorney Carl Adams said Friday. Whiteaker, 33, an 11-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, had finished cleaning the gun and was about to replace it in its holster about 9:15 p.m., according to investigators. Whiteaker, of Yuba City, had sent his son to another room to throw away used rags. The deputy momentarily put down the weapon when his wife handed him cleaning supplies, investigators said. At that moment, their son, Tyler, returned to the room and picked up the gun, looking into the barrel, Adams said... (The first step in gun-proofing children is to teach them that they can see parents' firearms whenever they like - so long as they ask first. Rule Three: Maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/856441.html --- Air Marshal Training Downgraded: Their mission is to protect airline passengers from acts of terror on U.S. flights. But in a special investigation, former and current air marshals told CNN that the number of marshals assigned to police flights is so low that the federal agency overseeing them has drastically lowered its firearms and psychological testing standards just so it can qualify new hires. More than a dozen current and former marshals said that so many federal air marshals have resigned and are not being replaced, airport screeners are being employed to fill the dwindling ranks. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/16/griffin.marshal.training/index.html Airport Screeners to Get More Security Training: Airport screeners are about to get new security training designed to help them think creatively about possible threats - including those they have never thought of. "We have to prepare for attacks that don't fit our procedures," such as the traveler who stuffed a block of cheese wrapped in wire into a checked bag, Transportation Security Administration Kip Hawley told reporters Friday. The screeners still will be vigilant for someone trying to bring a gun on a plane, but they also want to look for more offbeat threats, he said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/18/AR2008041802432.html?hpid=sec-nation --- Jim Cirillo's Tales of the Stakeout Squad: I recently read this new release from Paladin Press. While there were a couple of accounts that I heard differently from Jim (such as his near audition with Mae West), there were many more accounts that were either new to me or clarified previously conflicting material. While this book does not provide instruction, it does give a great deal of insight into a man who made some of the largest contributions to the tactics and techniques that many of us teach. http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1634 --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for various states are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx --- There's a Reason God Put Those People on an Island: A stripper's truncheon is an offensive weapon even though he uses it as a prop in his policeman act, prosecutors claimed yesterday. Student Stuart Kennedy was hauled into court after two female plain-clothes cops spotted him in a fake police uniform. They followed him into the Paramount Bar in Aberdeen and watched him perform as "Sergeant Eros" before charging him with carrying offensive weapons, which also included a fake CS gas canister. He was cleared at the city's sheriff court - but yesterday the Crown challenged the ruling at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/04/18/stripper-s-truncheon-was-offensive-weapon-court-told-86908-20386309/ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .