Texas School Stays Under Spotlight: Students in this tiny town of grain silos and ranch-style houses spent much of the first couple of days in school this week trying to guess which of their teachers were carrying pistols under their clothes...The school board decided that teachers with concealed guns were a better form of security than armed peace officers, since an attacker would not know whom to shoot first, Mr. Thweatt said. Teachers have received training from a private security consultant and will use special ammunition designed to prevent ricocheting, he added...Texas gun laws ban the weapons on school property. But the Legislature carved out an exception allowing school boards to permit people with concealed handgun licenses to carry their weapons. No local district had taken advantage of the exception until the Harrold school board acted... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/us/29texas.html?ref=us&pagewanted=all Related Commentary: ...So why not arm the kindergarten teacher? It's a foolish idea. Schools are for teaching, and teaching impressionable students that people must carry weapons to protect themselves in ordinary circumstances will not lead to a civilization in which guns aren't needed. There is a place for firearms - hunting, collections, target and other sports shooting, certain careers, et cetera - but school isn't on that list... (It's amazing that the same people who ask parents to turn over the upbringing of their children to the state are so determined that those children should remain vulnerable in the process. While teachers should be able to defend themselves at school, they should also be able to defend their students.) http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/OPINION01/808280302 A Canadian Visits Columbine High School: ...So I went to Columbine and asked a survivor about the legacy of 12 slaughtered kids and one teacher, and what might have deterred the boys who committed this act, or stop the next one. "If we would have had metal detectors, they would have just killed the people running them," the witness said. This was the principal, Frank DeAngelis, in his 30th year at Columbine High, sitting in the same chair in the same office where he first heard the gunfire on the April day in 1999 when students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold blasted their sickness and confusion into 36 friends and instructors, and then into their own mouths and brains... http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=751887 --- Obama's Gun-Ban Rhetoric: Sen. Barack Obama's campaign just won't let the gun issue rest. Mr. Obama and his campaign surrogates continue to assure gun owners that he is on their side, and it appears to be paying off. John McCain only leads Mr. Obama among hunters by 14 percentage points, just about half the 27-point lead that President Bush held over John Kerry in 2004. If Mr. McCain had a similar lead, he would be ahead in most polls, particularly in many battle ground states. Yet, despite all the Democratic claims to the contrary, Mr. Obama is undoubtedly the most anti-gun candidate ever nominated by a major party for president... http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/29/obamas-gun-ban-rhetoric/ --- What Obama's 1999 Proposal Would Mean to Denver: In 1999 Obama suggested a law that would prevent all gun stores within a five mile radius of schools and parks (See Obama's Draconian Gun Control). In the following map, the white area is the calculated exclusion zone along the I-25 corridor around Denver and farther north and south along the highway to the borders of Colorado. The exclusion zone extends from north of Fort Collins to south of Colorado Springs varying from about 5 miles to probably 60 miles wide. The map calculation is just for schools. Parks have not been brought into the equation yet. Each pushpin represents a school... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5955 --- The Greek Chorus?: U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says Barack Obama is regular guy who is no threat to gun owners. Tester said Thursday that he spoke with Obama "straight up" on the gun issue. The senator says his fellow Democrat understands the issue much better than he used to. Tester spent a great deal of time with Obama on Wednesday when the presidential candidate stopped in Billings. The two then flew together to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The National Rifle Association has criticized Obama over his gun votes in the Illinois Legislature... (Yes, he now understands how awareness of his earlier positions threatens his presidential ambitions. Wasn't Montana's Governor Schweitzer singing this same song for Obama a few days ago?)) http://www.abcmontana.com/news/state/27636469.html --- From Obama's Acceptance Speech: "...The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals..." (I strongly suspect that part of Obama's definition of a criminal is owning a semi-automatic version of an AK-47.) http://cosmicvariance.com/2008/08/28/we-shall-always-march-ahead/ --- Democrats Play Conservation Card: Stepping gingerly back into the thicket of gun politics, some Democrats are offering up a few proposals to make them less on the defensive on an issue that many claim cost former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presidency. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., spoke at a National Wildlife Federation briefing Wednesday afternoon, pushing efforts to expand conservation areas for hunting and fishing grounds as well as better protection of the environment for sportsmen... http://www.nationaljournal.com/conventions/co_20080828_8741.php --- Gustav and Guns: We just got a call from Devline Rossell, a charter captain based out of Venice, Louisiana. He was shopping in New Orleans to get some supplies before the arrival of Gustav (currently listed as a tropical storm that has left at least 22 dead in the Caribbean) and reported that the item most in demand was not food, clothing or shelter. "I just left a sporting goods store and you would think that the number-one selling item would be plywood or potable water or gasoline right now," he said. "Apparently it is AR-15s and .223 ammo. I watched at least 20 people buy AR-15s and cases of .223..." http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/thegunshots/2008/08/whats-selling-i.html --- Stay Out of New Jersey: A Pennsylvania man was injured in an accident in Westampton Tuesday and then charged with unlawful possession of a loaded handgun, police said. According to investigators, Gary Jones, 30, of Glenside, Pa. was the driver of a vehicle that collided with another car yesterday afternoon at the intersection of Springside and Valley Farm Roads. Following the 4:21 p.m. accident, officers located a 10 mm handgun in the console of Jones car, police said. The gun was loaded with hollow-point bullets, police said. Jones had a permit to carry the weapon in Pennsylvania, but New Jersey law does not permit him to bring the gun to New Jersey, police said... (The hollowpoint bullets are a separate violation in New Jersey.) http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/bct/man-charged-with-gun-possession-following-accident-in-westampton --- Nevada Homeowners Sue Over Shooting Park: A group of northwest valley homeowners filed a lawsuit against Clark County on Monday, attempting to stop the construction of a shooting park so far north of town that it abuts a mountain. The plaintiffs object to the location of the park, still under construction...It's understandable that families who have just invested a sizable nest egg in purchasing a new home may be concerned about anything they fear could impact their resale values or quality of life. These residents may have a bone to pick with developers or real-estate salesmen who failed to disclose information about the long-planned shooting park - though notice requirements typically involve 700-foot or quarter-mile proximities, with "caveat emptor" increasingly applying at greater distances... http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/27591479.html --- Oops, Wrong Shopper: ...Police say Joshua Eastman, 28, of East Stroudsburg was unloading groceries at his car shortly before 12:45 a.m. today when Reneau Jean Jacques, 17, of 77 Symphony Circle, East Stroudsburg, pointed a handgun at him and demanded that he hand over his money...Eastman then took out his wallet and pushed the door of his truck more open to put it between himself and the suspect. Jacques pointed his gun at Eastman's face. Eastman dropped his wallet and started ducking down. Jacques fired a shot that went through the window of the door almost striking Eastman and causing flying glass from the car window to cut his face. Eastman pulled out a handgun he was carrying and fell to the ground. He returned fire under the truck's door with his pistol while the teen continued to fire his weapon. Eastman shot Jacques in the lower leg and foot. Then Eastman ran back toward the store as the teen fled towards Friendly's restaurant... (All's well that ends well but I'm not sure that Mr. Eastman was fully prepared to use deadly force. He did, however, hit his available target once me made the decision.) http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/NEWS/80828002 --- S&W Reports Overseas M&P Sales: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: SWHC), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 156-year old company in the global business of safety, security, protection and sport, announced today that it has filled orders for the company's M&P9 polymer pistols to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service in the Caribbean and to the Sindh Police Agency in Pakistan... http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/smith--wesson-ships-orders,520105.shtml -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .