Chicago Tribune Advises Daley to Relax Gun Ban: ...Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, though, insisted last week that the city would defend its handgun ban in court. "Morton Grove can do anything that it wants," Daley said. "I don't look at this lightly - that, 'Oh, because the Supreme Court's done it we're just gonna dismiss it and all of a sudden people can arm themselves.' " Like Daley, this page strongly disagreed with the court's ruling. We admire his stand on this issue. But the court ruling was clear and explicit: A blanket ban on handgun ownership is unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment. Fighting in court to uphold Chicago's ban might buy some time, but at a high cost. The city will pay for lawyers and then it will lose. Better to focus on a law the city can successfully defend... (It sounds as though the Tribune does not want to gamble on the incorporation of the Second Amendment.) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0801edit1aug01,0,1174999.story --- Chicago Suburb Postpones Amendment of Handgun Ban: Questions from aldermen about proposed amendments to the City's weapons ordinance led to postponement of the vote to amend the ordinance, scheduled for the July 28 City Council meeting, until at least the Aug. 11 meeting. The Council directed the City's law department to draft an ordinance that would comply with the recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision Heller v. District of Columbia, which held that Washington, D.C.'s ban on the private possession of handguns was unconstitutional. Evanston's present weapons ordinance similarly bans the possession of handguns in the City by civilians, with certain exceptions, such as antique guns and starter pistols. The day after the Heller decision was rendered, the National Rifle Association sued Evanston, seeking to overturn the ordinance... http://www.evanstonroundtable.com/rt_080608/news.html --- DC Gun Owners Form Advocacy Group: As the District prepares to fight double-barreled attempts to loosen its gun-control laws, some of the city's gun rights pioneers have done what folks in Washington do best - they have formed a lobbying group. About a dozen residents have pledged their support to Capital Gun Owners, a new D.C.-based gun advocacy and education group headed by Northwest resident Amy McVey. "We're at a point where we're feeling our way here," said Mrs. McVey, who was the first D.C. resident to register a handgun after the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns was struck down by the Supreme Court in June. "I'm sure our mission will evolve as needed..." http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/aug/07/gun-owners-arm-themselves-with-advocacy-group/ --- West Virginia City Asked to Repeal Local Gun Laws: City Council members were surprised to find booklets at their desks Monday evening, asking them to overturn Charleston's handgun laws. The light-blue booklets were placed there courtesy of the West Virginia Citizens Defense League whose president, Jim Mullins, said the group simply wants council to align its gun laws with the state's. "I recoiled when I saw the book," said City Council President Tom Lane. "I drafted just about every one of those bills. It hasn't been that long ago we had a debate about this." Fifteen years ago, to be precise. In 1993, following a series of shooting deaths in the city, Lane and then-Mayor Kent Hall led a fight to restrict the purchase and use of handguns. It's safe to say Lane, the only holdover from the 1993 council, is not eager to roll back those laws... http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200808050691 Down the Road...: A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional a citywide handgun ban in Washington, D.C., has at least one West Virginia city tweaking its law. Martinsburg City Manager Mark Baldwin says the Eastern Panhandle city needs to clarify that its ban applies only to city buildings, not city streets and sidewalks. Martinsburg officials decided to revisit the issue after the Supreme Court ruled June 26 that the ban in the nation's capital violated the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to have guns for self-defense...Last month, Ranson City Council, also in the Eastern Panhandle, indefinitely tabled a proposal to prohibit guns at city parks, saying it was too vague. The council discussed the idea after concerns were raised about a man who legally carried a gun to the Charles C. Marcus Field, where children play... http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x1239841358/W-Va-looks-at-gun-laws-after-high-court-ruling --- Illinois County Asked to Pass Pro-RKBA Resolution: A group of residents is asking a Lake County Board committee to sponsor a resolution that would oppose any future gun control legislation. While generally declaring their support of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, members of the board's law and judicial committee on Tuesday expressed reservations about the proposed action. James Stewart, a Waukegan resident and supporter of the statewide Pro 2 Amendment Resolution movement, said he believes it is important for Lake County to join the 82 other Illinois counties that have passed the resolution... (There are 102 counties in Illinois.) http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=225859 --- Utah City Restricts Airsoft Guns: South Jordan officials decided to ban many toy guns in public places as a move to protect the public. But now, many who use toy guns as part of a game say the city is going too far. The city voted to make carrying airsoft guns in public a crime, a Class B misdemeanor. Michael Johnson, who enjoys a good airsoft gun game, says, "I don't understand it. It's long range tag." The ordinance applies to any device that can shoot a hard object, like a rock, a pellet or even a bean at least 25 feet. The problem, according to South Jordan's police chief, is that people are mistaking toy guns for real ones... http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=cdd4dcea-743a-4cfe-8589-7dfce720c4ca --- Out of the Woodwork: The Bloomberg-funded Mayors Against Illegal Guns announced today it sent a six-question survey to both John McCain and Barack Obama focued on "common sense steps necessary to fix the nation's broken background check system" that the group endorsed during its national summit in April. This isn't the first time the coalition has sought to influence the presidential contests that its benefactor once considered joining. It ran pint ads in New Hampshire and Iowa newspapers in advance of the primary and caucuses, respectively, and also aired a TV spot (in which the mayor, playing the role of an "undecided voter" was prominently featured) in key primary states like Pennsylvania. The coalition sent a similar survey to the primary candidates, but didn't get much in the way of a response. Now that the field has tightened to two - between whom the billionaire mayor has yet to choose - perhaps they'll have better luck... http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/08/bloomberg-tries-again-on-gun-c.html --- Rule Four Issue: A grandfather has shot and wounded his 9-year-old grandson in Detroit after firing at a pit bull that was attacking the boy. Police say the bullet passed through the dog's body, ricocheted off the sidewalk and hit the boy in the thigh Wednesday. The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment of what authorities called non-life-threatening injuries. Animal control officers seized the dog. It survived. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it. This has been a common occurrence in law enforcement. Pit bull terriers generally have thinner bodies than people and even hollowpoint bullets are likely to exit unless they strike large bones, such as the pelvis. These ricochet injuries are not usually life-theatening.) http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/nationworld/93043.php --- Operators Like New SOCOM Rifle: It's a rifle designed specifically for the special operations community. Modular barrels, ambidextrous controls, a gas-piston operating system, a host of adjustment options - but you already know that. So with all the slick marketing language and eye-popping specifications of the SOCOM Combat Assault Rifle, it's a given that operators will embrace the thing wholeheartedly, right? Well, let's ask them. "This rifle is awesome," said one Special Forces operator who, like the rest of the Green Berets in this interview, declined to be named for security reasons. "It's spot on..." http://www.military.com/news/article/operators-test-new-commando-rifle.html?ESRC=navy.nl --- Tomorrow Is the Deadline for Comments on National Park Carry: ...The U.S. Department of the Interior has issued a proposed rule to eliminate, once and for all, this prohibition on Right-to-Carry in national parks and wildlife refuges. NRA is leading the effort to change this policy and we are very close to winning this important battle. Not surprisingly, anti-gun and anti-hunting extremists are contorting the facts to try to continue this prohibition of self-defense. They are launching e-mail broadsides in an all-out push for their supporters to oppose this common sense measure. (Read a recent HSUS attack e-mail here: https://community.hsus.org/campaign/US_2008_parks_poaching/explanation). These new rules cannot take effect until after a period of public comment. And make no mistake; our opponents are aggressively ramping up their efforts to try to convince the Secretary of the Interior to reverse his decision. To combat this effort, you must take a few moments to submit comments on this issue by this Friday, August 8, 2008, by going to this web site: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648053d497 (Select the icon next to "Add Comments") You may also mail your comments 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 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .