Big Brother Shows Anti-RKBA Agenda Early: ...President-elect Obama's Web site intentionally misled the American people by referring to these firearms as "weapons that belong on foreign battlefields." These firearms are not machine guns. In reality, these commonplace firearms that President-elect Obama wants to permanently ban are used in shooting competitions and are found in homes and hunting lodges all across the country. They fire only once with each trigger pull, no spray firing, and they shoot the same ammunition as other firearms of the same caliber... http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_212185802.shtml --- IANSA Cheers Big Brother: The election of Barack Obama as US President should improve the political environment for progress on gun violence prevention and reducing US arms exports, according to IANSA members in the USA. Frida Berrigan of the Arms and Security Initiative pointed to several signs that the change of government could mean arms exports come under greater scrutiny. For example, Senator Obama voted for a de facto one year ban on US exports of cluster bombs, and during the election campaign he expressed openness to signing the Convention on Cluster Munitions... (IANSA: International Action Network on Small Arms.) http://www.iansa.org/ --- How to Beat Big Brother: So, as believers in the civil right to bear arms, where do we go now that the most anti-gun president in history takes office in January? To be fair, for us, nothing changes. We simply attack this problem as aggressively as we attacked the Clinton administration and the Republicans who turned their back on us and voted for the Joe Biden-authored 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. We stand up and force the elected officials to consider the danger to their future electoral viability if they try to take our guns. Our job is to remind them of the Democrats bounced out of office after the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban passed. We need to remind them of Al Gore losing his home state of Tennessee in 2000 due to his willingness to take our guns, and we need to remind them that John Kerry lost in 2004 largely because of his stance on gun rights... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6246 --- FBI Reports 49% NICS Increase for Week: Gun sales have skyrocketed since Barack Obama was elected, and many gun owners say they are concerned the nation's next president and a Democratic-controlled Congress will impose a ban on assault rifles and firearm ownership. From Nov. 3 to Nov. 9, the FBI reported 374,000 background checks on people purchasing guns - a 49 percent jump from last year. Dealers are reporting larger-than-usual sales since Election Day, according to the Chicago Tribune. The rush to buy weapons is more intense than in the days following Y2K and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks... (I recall no reason for gun sales to have surged following Y2K - firearms, ammunition, non-perishable foods, etc., were stockpiled before Y2K.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80825 --- Colorado County Reports Five-Year CWP Peak: Permits to carry concealed handguns in Boulder County have spiked to a five-year high last month. So far in 2008, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office has received 483 applications and issued 428 permits to carry handguns concealed, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. That's up 16 percent from 2007's total, and nearly double the 219 permits issued in 2005... In Boulder County, 1,916 residents currently hold concealed carry permits, according to the Daily Camera newspaper. Last month, there were 62,000 more background checks of gun purchases than in October 2007, according to the FBI. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/17964813/detail.html#- --- Ohio Balks on Rest-Stop Carry: ... For a brief background, when SB184 went into law on September 9, one of the changes was that government owned buildings used "primarily as a shelter, restroom, parking facility for motor vehicles, or rest facility" are no longer places where a person with a CHL is banned from carrying their concealed firearm. This covers rest stops... In late October, an email began circulating by someone claiming ODOT was taking all the signs down. However, despite false claims to the contrary, the situation had not been completely resolved, which is why there are still signs up at some facilities... http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4115/53/ --- Oregon CCW Confidentiality: ...Washington County's sheriff is asking 10,000 people who hold concealed handgun licenses whether they want their names made public if it is requested as an Oregon public record. Sheriff Rob Gordon said he believes that people obtain these licenses as a security measure, which would exempt the release of their names. But a circuit court in Jackson County ruled in April that people have to document that the license is for security reasons in order to be exempt from public records law. On Friday, license holders will be mailed letters asking them to say whether they obtained the license for security reasons, and whether they want their information kept confidential... http://michellemalkin.com/2008/11/11/targeting-law-abiding-gun-owners-again/ --- Court Hears Challenge to Philadelphia Gun Laws: A lawyer for the National Rifle Association told a state appeals court Wednesday that the city has no authority to implement an assault weapons ban because such a measure deals with constitutional rights. The NRA is challenging a series of gun control measures that City Council passed in an effort to combat gun violence. Mayor Michael Nutter signed the bills even though the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has previously upheld the state's exclusive right to enact gun laws. Lawyer C. Scott Shields, who represents the NRA, said the city simply isn't allowed to regulate firearms... http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081112_ap_pacourthearschallengetophiladelphiagunlaws.html --- Another Pennsylvania City to Pass Lost-Gun Ordinance: A gun law that sparked a political fight in Allentown and has drawn fire from state politicians is likely to pass quietly tonight in Easton. City Council is to vote on a bill that could impose a $1,000 fine or a 90-day jail term on people who don't quickly report their lost or stolen handguns. Allentown, Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania cities already have passed versions of the law, which is intended to target straw purchasers - people who buy guns, illegally pass them to criminals and then claim the weapons must have been lost or stolen. Bethlehem officials are considering a similar law... But Philadelphia's version of the law faces a court challenge from the National Rifle Association. Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin called Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski's version of the law unconstitutional and unenforceable because only the state may regulate guns... http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_3guns.6667471nov12,0,7721693.story --- New Jersey Assembly to Vote on Large-Caliber Ban: On Monday, November 17, the New Jersey Assembly is scheduled to vote on A2116, legislation banning most firearms over .50 caliber. Though previously amended in an attempt to address gun owner concerns, the legislation would still ban virtually all firearms over .50 caliber, including many popular modern day muzzleloaders. A2116 is so poorly drafted that it would even outlaw firearms manufactured during the Revolutionary and Civil War eras and their modern day replicas... (Modern firearms over .50-caliber are already restricted under a 1968 amendment to the National Firearms Act.) http://www.nraila.org/legislation/read.aspx?id=4228 --- Human Society Seeks Lead-Bullet Ban: The wealthiest animal rights organization in the country, the Humane Society of the United States, is again asking for a nationwide ban on lead-shot ammunition. It says the North Dakota Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have preliminary findings that show you will end up with higher levels of lead in your blood if you eat wildlife killed with "lead bullets" than with other types of ammo. Please, no laughing just yet. Wait until the end because there's good and bad news in all of this... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/12/lead-bullets-warning-is-just-crazy-talk/ Related Commentary: http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811120334 --- British Pensioner Risked Charges to Recover Stolen Money: When two crooks pounced on 77-year-old Ernest Wotton as he withdrew money from a cashpoint, they assumed he would be an easy target. But they had not anticipated how fit he was, nor, more importantly, the fact that he is a former Desert Rat. The grandfather-of-four sprinted after one of the men who had snatched £100 of his pension money, and caught up with him within 100 yards. Undeterred by the thief's height advantage, Mr Wotton grabbed him by the arm and wrenched away the wad of notes before the man escaped... (Amazingly, Mr. Wotton has not yet been charged with using excessive force.) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1085116/Desert-Rat-grandfather-wrestles-money-cashpoint-thief-amazing-100-yard-dash.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .