Department of Interior Extends Deadline for National-Park-Carry Ruling: ...Rather than closing the proscribed comments period as scheduled and moving toward finalizing this federal regulation, U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), succeeded in delaying the implementation of the final rule by bullying the Department of the Interior (their respective congressional subcommittees have oversight of national parks) to extend the deadline for comments an additional 30 days! In a letter to Secretary Kempthorne, Senator Akaka and Representative Grijalva asked that the public comment period be extended, citing the recent decision in the District of Columbia v. Heller...Please submit your comments on-line at: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=090000648066022a Or in writing to: Public Comments Processing Attn: 1024-AD70 Division of Policy and Directives Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222 Arlington, VA 22203 http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4074 --- More from Larry Elder on Heller: The New York Times, in an editorial condemning the Supreme Court case, says: "Thirty-thousand Americans are killed by guns every year - on the job, walking to school, at the shopping mall. The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die senselessly." Really? The 30,000 number includes 17,000 suicides. But a person intent on suicide finds a way - gun or no gun. In Japan, for example, more than twice as many people per capita kill themselves, yet that country bans handguns...As the city's former Mayor Marion Barry once put it, "Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country." So there. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/LarryElder/2008/07/10/why_do_we_keep_and_bear_arms_part_2?page=full&comments=true --- Medical Journal Opposes Heller Ruling: The landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns "has launched the country on a risky epidemiologic experiment," according to the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine. The editors, who have long been on record as supporters of gun control laws, published the editorial online today ahead of the journal's July 31 print edition. "If there is a widespread loosening of gun regulations, we learn over the next few years - in a before-and-after experiment - whether the laws we had in place had a significant impact in mitigating death and injury from handguns," wrote Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., editor-in-chief of the journal, and colleagues. http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/tb/10067 --- Misusing Kids for Political Ends: The death of a child is horrible and painful, and any decent person would do whatever it takes to save that life. How could an organization called the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) possibly have an agenda that could result in more child fatalities? A recent report by the CDF leads with: "Firearm Deaths Among Children and Teens Increase for the First Time Since 1994: 3,006 in 2005." Insisting this ties into the now-defunct Clinton "assault weapons" ban, CDF says... http://www.newswithviews.com/Nemerov/howard4.htm --- Chicago Suburb Initiates Repeal of Handgun Ban: Quietly, in the wake of last month's Supreme Court decision on gun ownership, the village board in north suburban Wilmette has taken the first step toward repealing its handgun ban...Introduction of the measure that would repeal the 19-year-old ban was in stark contrast to the intense debate that marked its 1989 passage and subsequent enforcement. Tuesday night, only 15 people attended the board meeting, none indicated a desire to speak on the ban, and because introduction was part of the consent agenda, no one else mentioned it, either... http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/2565672.php? --- Philadelphia Sets Fine for Not Reporting Gun Loss: City leaders are moving ahead with their effort to crack down on guns despite the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that blocked citywide handgun bans. The city plans to start imposing fines of $1,900 or more for not reporting lost or stolen guns within 24 hours, one of five gun ordinances the city council passed earlier this year. Mayor Michael Nutter believes last month's Supreme Court ruling left room for cities to enforce gun limits even as it rejected Washington, D.C.'s 32-year-old handgun ban...However, all five ordinances, including the reporting requirements, are already the subject of a pending legal challenge by the National Rifle Association. Lawyer C. Scott Shields, who represents the NRA in the case, said he will seek a temporary injunction blocking the reporting requirement. The NRA argues that only the state Legislature can enact gun laws in Pennsylvania... http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20080709_ap_phillysets1900finefornotreportinglostgun.html --- Anti-RKBA Politician Lies About Carry Permit: The Tennessee Republican Party has unearthed a potentially damaging bombshell regarding House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. The party accuses Jimmy Naifeh of lying in a press release describing himself as a concealed carry permit holder nine days after catching heat from the gun rights community for engaging in some inspired parliamentary maneuvering in order to to scuttle a piece of legislation which would have concealed the identities of concealed permit holders. The Tennessee Firearms Association asserts that Naifeh's "boast" on April 11 that he had become a permitholder was a lie. Naifeh, according to public records, did not officially apply for the permit until April 21 and thus could not legally have received his permit until at least a month later... http://politics.nashvillepost.com/2008/07/09/naifeh-fudges-on-gun-permit-claim-in-wake-of-controversy/ --- Ohioans Defend Open Carry: The Chief of Police in Willowick has followed through with his promise to help us effect change at the statewide level by writing a letter to Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers. His letter echoes the concern of our own, that there are misconceptions among many in law enforcement regarding the legality of open carry. We hope AG Rogers will help resolve the problem and ensure all law enforcement agencies in Ohio are aware of the fact that open carry by law-abiding citizens not otherwise restricted by law is perfectly legal... http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4025/83/ --- Gun Sales Rise in Florida County: Gun shop owners in Lee County say sales are up and they attribute the increase to home invasions. Officials with the Lee County Sheriff's Office say at least 15 home invasions have been reported this year. In Cape Coral, police say they have investigated five and have solved most of them...Cape Coral resident Jocelyn Erickson warns criminals to stay away from her property. "I can only say one thing: God help anyone who comes into my home if I didn't open the door first," she said... (Some of my CWP students may recall the story of Sammie Foust, read from The Best Defense, which took place in Cape Coral.) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25612650 --- Roll Over, Bark and Beg: ...The other day I glanced at the web site of the Lake Chapala Society, a social club of sorts for expats around Mexico's Lake Chapala, an hour south of Guadalajara (where I live). Clicking on "Safety," I found a long list of reasons why you should never, ever use a firearm to protect your home and family. No. See, you might miss, or be scared, or the intruders might take it away and shoot you, and they might be all mad and hurt you when all they wanted was your television. No, the best thing is to let them do what they want, and then maybe they won't do anything bad to you. This supposedly was written by a retired cop but, if so, he (or quite possible she, judging by the tone) doesn't sound like any cop I have known, which is whole lots.. Anyway, his, her, or its advice, is "Leave the guns to people who are trained and prepared to use them." Which he says he is... http://fredoneverything.net/FOE_Frame_Column.htm --- Oops, Wrong Shopper: A Staten Island ex-con whose thug brother blew away an aspiring actress in cold blood was killed yesterday by a man he was trying to rob, sources said. Bloods member Grant Fleming, 21, was shot in the chest three times after he sneaked up behind a man walking into his Jersey Street apartment with a bag of groceries. The targeted victim grabbed Fleming's gun and opened fire... http://www.nypost.com/seven/07092008/news/regionalnews/killers_robber_bro_shot_dead_119095.htm --- Man Shot by Neighbor Had Extensive Criminal Record: A 29-year-old man who was shot to death by a neighbor during a domestic disturbance in Mesa had an extensive criminal record, with three criminal convictions and a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Abraham Mariscal spent 10 months behind bars at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence after he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misconduct involving weapons, according to Arizona Department of Corrections and Maricopa County Superior Court records. Mariscal's prison sentence stemmed from a series of two drive-by shootings at the same east Phoenix house on Sept. 24, 2003, in which witnesses gave police conflicting reports about whether he was the driver or the shooter...Officers reported that Mariscal had been swinging a pool cue inside the house and causing damage. They said Mariscal then went outside and continued to cause a disturbance. Police arriving on the scene found that he had been shot to death by a neighbor, identified as Sheldon Randolph, officials said. Randolph was not arrested as police continue to investigate the case... http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/07/10/20080710ev-poolcue0710.html --- Rule Five Reminder: State Police Lt. Richard R. Bolduc was placed on restricted duty and reassigned last Wednesday after his 12-year-old son gained access to his unloaded gun, pointed it at a neighbor's 5-year-old daughter and pulled the trigger, police said. On June 25, the boy brought the unloaded gun to his neighbor's house after having a beef with children there, Sandwich Police Chief Michael Miller said. He carried the gun in his belt, pulled it out and after a dispute over whether the weapon was real, the boy pulled the trigger, Miller said...When Sgt. Terence Murphy went to the boy's house to question him, the 12-year-old led him to an unlocked bureau where the gun was stored with a loaded magazine next to it, Miller said... (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080707/NEWS11/80707015 --- Utah Police Chief Surrenders Instructor Credentials: Riverdale Police Chief Dave Hansen, who accidentally shot himself while teaching a concealed weapon-permit course in May, has resigned as a firearms instructor. Hansen "voluntarily surrendered" his teaching credentials before the Bureau of Criminal Identification weapons review board took up the issue of his competency as an instructor this week, Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, said Tuesday. Oda asked the agency for an investigation into Hansen's ability as a firearms instructor after the veteran police officer shot himself in the ankle May 3 while teaching a concealed weapon-permit course inside a classroom... http://origin.sltrib.com/news/ci_9817818 --- Safety Warning: A Mendocino County woman who was trying to kill mice in her trailer with a gun ended up shooting herself and another person. The 43-year-old woman pulled out her .44-caliber Magnum revolver after she saw the mice scurrying across the floor of her trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley, sheriff's officials said. But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor. The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket. Authorities did not release the shooting victims' names. The mice escaped the shooting unharmed. (I could be mistaken but it sounds as though the revolver was an older Ruger Blackhawk, without the transfer-bar safety. The latter is designed to prevent such discharges of dropped guns.) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,378142,00.html --- Britain Relaxes Pistol Ban for Olympic Shooters: The British government relaxed gun laws Tuesday to allow shooting teams to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics. Britain banned handguns in 1997 after the massacre of 16 children and a teacher at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland. The law includes a ban on guns for licensed sports, preventing domestic pistol events. But Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has invoked special exemptions in England and Wales. A similar exemption allowed pistols for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said the government would make sure that competitors and officials can "possess their special competition pistols for the duration of the games and for any special warm-up events." http://www.buffalonews.com/nationalworld/international/story/388015.html --- There's a Reason God Put Those People on an Island: A pensioner who used a piece of wood to chase away a gang of teenagers who had been throwing stones at his home is facing a jail term after being arrested and charged with possessing an offensive weapon. Sydney Davis, 65, a father-of-two, dialled 999 when his home in the Pinehurst area of Swindon, Wilts, came under attack. But when police failed to turn up over the next two hours he decided to take action himself. He grabbed a section of wood from a broken-up sofa lying in his front garden and chased the youths down the street - just as police officers finally arrived. Mr Davis, a retired builder, was astonished when police arrested him while allowing the gang to run to safety... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2269229/Pensioner-arrested-for-chasing-away-youths-with-plank.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .