Chicago Second Amendment Rally: If you can get to Chicago (and even if you normally make a point of avoiding Chicago--an easily understandable policy) on July 11th, you need to do so. The Illinois gun rights movement, with the help of ISRA and Illinois Carry, has a little surprise for the purveyors of the forcible citizen disarmament agenda in Illinois. That's right - a Second Amendment rally in downtown Chicago, featuring Suzanna Hupp (if you don't know who she is, or how compelling she is as a speaker, see this)... http://armedandsafe.blogspot.com/2008/06/second-amendment-rally-in-belly-of.html --- Michigan Judge Nixes "No Guns" Signs: At a time when even nail files and pocket knives are barred from courts, Hillsdale County has reopened its historic courthouse to citizens who legally pack weapons. Circuit Judge Michael Smith recently ordered the "no guns" signs removed at the courthouse in downtown Hillsdale, saying the ban is against state law. Smith said that courthouses are not exempt from state concealed-weapons laws, so there's no way to lawfully stop people from carrying a concealed weapon if they're licensed properly. The ban against citizens carrying guns in courts is based on a 2001 administrative order by the Michigan Supreme Court, not on legislation... http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1211983506200620.xml&coll=3 --- Ooh, Nasty Celebrities: ... Apparently, The Hills stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have spent a reported $10,000 on guns, according to In Touch Weekly. When questioned about the reasoning behind the purchase of two Wilson close quarter combat 45-caliber pistols, two Benelli semiautomatic M4 tactical shotguns, and one Scout semiautomatic rifle, a friend told In Touch Weekly, "Spencer does have a few enemies." However, who needs five guns, honestly? Does he really think that his "enemies" are going to come after him and Heidi? According to 24-year-old Spencer, his appearances on the MTV reality show brought the loathed couple some tremendously negative attention. This led to the couple going to Culver City, CA to purchase the weapons on June 7 in order to protect themselves. As Perez Hilton said in his blog, "He's alienated a lot of people now that he's rich and famous." http://thecelebritycafe.com/features/17141.html --- Oops, Wrong House: Three people are in custody after an all-day manhunt after an attempted home burglary on Sherrilltown Road in the Norene Community, south-southeast of Lebanon, on Thursday. Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe said the incident began around 7 a.m. yesterday when a home on Sherrilltown Road was allegedly broken into. Alan Ricketts, brother of the man who owns the home, and their father, heard the break-in and ran and confronted the three suspects as they were leaving the residence. Ricketts and their father reside nearby. Ashe said the three suspects tried to run over Ricketts and his father in their truck. Ricketts and his father then began shooting at the three. The gunshots damaged the truck which ended up in a ditch. The three suspects escaped on foot... http://www.wilsonpost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=280&Itemid=13 --- Dealer Charged with Selling Chinese Ammo: The 22-year-old president of a Miami Beach arms-dealing company and three other people were charged Friday with selling prohibited Chinese ammunition to the Pentagon to supply Afghan security forces, federal officials said. A federal grand jury in Miami indicted the munitions dealer, Efraim E. Diveroli, president of AEY Inc., as well as two former employees and a business associate, on charges of fraud and conspiring to misrepresent the types of ammunition they sold to the Defense Department as part of a $298 million Army contract. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/washington/21arms.html?_r=1&ref=washington&oref=slogin --- South Sudan to Disarm Civilians: Southern Sudanese authorities have begun a campaign to collect large quantities of weapons held by civilians following decades of civil war. South Sudan's Minister of Internal Affairs, Paul Mayom, said only a few guns had been handed in voluntarily and new measures were required. Disarmament had to be backed by the army and take place simultaneously across communities, he said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7465289.stm --- Britain Charges 90-Year-Old Man with Firearm Possession: A 90-year-old Teignmouth man has appeared in court on firearms charges. John Loud, 90, of Long Orchard, Pound Road, is accused of possessing a .22 air rifle without holding the required firearms certificate at Shaldon on February 12. The other offence alleges on the same day he had 13 .22 rimfire cartridges without being a firearms certificate holder. The case was adjourned to July 7 to the court sitting in Torquay. http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=135239&command=displayContent&sourceNode=135077&contentPK=20913267&folderPk=79060&pNodeId=134831 --- Britain Is World's Largest Arms Exporter: Britain was the world's biggest arms seller last year, accounting for a third of global arms exports, the Government's trade promotion organisation said. UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) said that arms exporters had added £9.7 billion in new business last year, giving them a larger share of global arms exports than the United States... UKTI said that the figures were boosted by orders for Eurofighter Typhoon jets from Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest arms buyer, which has imported $31 billion (£16 million) in weapons over the past five years. There were also orders from Oman and Trinidad and Tobago for offshore patrol vessels... (It appears that these sales are politically correct because they don't involve small arms, suitable for ownership by private citizens.) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4161341.ece --- Tangentially Related: ... Today, McCain calls himself a thorough-going conservative, and he's got the statistics to prove it. He has voted with his party almost 90% of the time this term, which puts him ahead of 29 other Republicans. According to data analyzed at VoteView.com, McCain's voting record in 2005-06 would place him second in the contest for America's most conservative senator in the 109th Congress and eighth in the 110th Senate. McCain supported Bush in 95% of his votes in 2007 and has managed to achieve a perfect 100% score so far in 2008... (Consider the source. It's the ten percent that worries me.) http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-alterman20-2008jun20,0,371551.story --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for he week are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx --- From Alan Korwin: ...With thanks to deputy public information officer Estrada at the U.S. Supreme Court: 1. Heller does not have the highest number of amicus briefs in the Court's history, it is third, at 66. The highest was 107 in the affirmative action case Grutter (539 U.S. 306 in 2003), followed by the abortion case Webster (492 U.S. 490 in 1989) at 78. 2. The Heller decision could actually come later than June 23, the widely anticipated last scheduled day of proceedings for the session. The Court can add days to its calendar for additional decisions if it needs to, but these would typically come before the end of the week (June 27). Absolutely no way to know for sure until they act. 3. Lead attorney Alan Gura pointed out in an email to me (6/19/08) that the Court still has ten decisions left to issue, including three biggies, so it's highly likely they will add days to the calendar. 4. My conjecture: The decision must be signed and sealed now for at least days if not weeks, to allow for proofing, typesetting, printing, binding, pre-mail activity, web prep, syllabus draft, etc. My guess is they would rather release it at the end, so the national hub bub doesn't impinge on other work they have. Requests for interviews, phone calls from friends and close associates, shouting in the press, a ton of activity can be expected, might as well finish off the term first, no? 5. The best site for immediate download of the decision will be the Slip Opinions page, and web-traffic overload has not been a problem in the past according to the PIO (but we shall see on this one, eh?) http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07slipopinion.html Every "news" outlet on the planet will cover this story, where SOP is to a) read and partially understand only the Court's summary, or b) copy "wire services" which are routinely spin machines on this subject, and then release a mixture of fact, hype and editorial where the news is supposed to go. 6. My book on the Heller case is already underway, will include summaries and background on all 96 gun cases the High Court has heard so far, and the most thorough coverage of Heller you're likely to find anywhere. Many experts have agreed to contribute. Watch for the announcement when it goes on press... --- From AzCDL: Remember HB 2389, the AzCDL-requested bill that clarifies that it is permissible to carry a weapon, without a CCW permit, visibly or concealed, anywhere within a means of transportation, excluding public transit? HB 2389 passed out of the Senate Third Read on Monday, May 19, 2008. Prior to that it, in the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW), Senators Waring, Cheuvront and O'Halleran amended HB 2389 with language that didn't alter HB 2389, but advanced the Senators' issues. Because the original House version of HB 2389 differs from the version passed by the Senate, it must go through a conference committee where the differences can be worked out. The House has assigned conferees, but the Senate has not. The Legislative session is about to end, and unless HB 2389 gets a conference committee hearing soon, it will die a quiet death despite passing in both chambers of the Legislature. It's time to "encourage" Senator Tim Bee, the Senate President, to assign Senators to the HB 2389 conference committee so that it will get to the Governor's desk before the session ends. Senator Bee can be reached at (602) 926-5683. His email address is tbee@azleg.gov. Please take the time to send a polite note to Senator Bee encouraging him to assign Senate conferees to HB 2389. You can use your own words, or the template provided below. Be sure to include your name, address and telephone number in all correspondence. Subject: HB 2389 Dear Senator Bee: The Arizona Citizens Defense League has informed me that HB 2389, a bill that clarifies that it is permissible to carry a weapon, without a concealed weapons permit, visibly or concealed, anywhere within a means of transportation, excluding public transit, is awaiting the assignment of Senate conferees in order to progress to the Governor's desk before the end of this legislative session. After passing in both the House and Senate with bipartisan votes, it would be a shame to see this important legislation die because the Senate did not participate in a conference hearing. The House has already assigned conferees and is awaiting your move. Senator Bee, I urge you to delay no longer, assign conferees to HB 2389 and allow it to be sent to the Governor. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, State, zip-code Telephone number Stay tuned! Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html 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. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .