Surprising Op-Ed from The Washington Times: As a parting shot from the Bush administration, courtesy of the gun lobby, those who seek the solitude and beauty of some national parks and wildlife refuges will face the fact that the visitor standing next to them just may be packing heat and is ready to use it at the first sign of any unfriendliness, such as an argument over a camping space... (The Washington Times is, I believe, the nation's only daily conservative newspaper and has generally supported the RKBA, including for residents of DC.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/13/guns-in-the-parks/ --- Open-Carry Soccer Mom Divides Community: Before heading out the door to go to Wal-Mart, Meleanie Hain fussed over her children, grabbed her coat and keys, then ran upstairs to get one more item: her loaded Glock 26, which she strapped to her hip. She never leaves home without it. Hain, 30, has caused a stir in this rural Pennsylvania Dutch community 25 miles east of Harrisburg for packing a gun everywhere she goes, including to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer games this fall... http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081212_Gun-toting_woman_divides_community.html?submit=Vote&oid=1&mr=1&36048719=Y&cid=8500281&pid=36048719 --- Here's a Switch: ...Pepper spray is a deterrent and should be carried in a readily accessible pocket in your jacket. Pepper spray in your purse is useless if the thug grabs your purse. However, the best deterrent to crime is to arm yourself not with pepper spray, but with a concealed carry permit and a handgun you are comfortable carrying and using and an extra clip. Nothing says "I will not be a victim" to a thug like his or her being on the wrong side of a loaded weapon. This, however, is an option NOT to be taken lightly. The National Rifle Association and Tom Gresham's Gun Talk are the authorities on gun laws and obtaining training for your individual state. Do not remove your weapon from its holster or your handbag unless you plan to use it. I have a standard rule - I do not fire warning shots, if I have to pull my gun to protect myself and my family, the criminal will be stopped, simply put... http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.2000/pub_detail.asp --- A Call to Washington Gun Owners: Washington State gun owners should send a clear message to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels next Monday, Dec. 15 that his illegal plan to ignore state law by banning legally-carried handguns from public property will not be tolerated, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb encourages all gun owners in the Seattle/King County area to attend a Monday evening hearing on the mayor's scheme to ban handguns from all city property by executive order. The meeting will be held in the Bertha Knight Landes room at Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, with sign-in beginning at 5:30 p.m... http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/WA-Gun-Owners-Lawmakers-Should/story.aspx?guid={759C19DE-636C-4635-91E3-8917F7DC1457} --- Oops, Wrong House, Alabama Version: A Colbert County homeowner shot two men who reportedly were trying to break into his house early Wednesday, leaving both hospitalized recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. Three Florence men face charges over the break-in bid, Colbert County Sheriff Ronnie May said... Investigators said the homeowner shot Peake and Elkins multiple times with a 9 mm pistol after they kicked in the back door of the residence, which is just past East Colbert Baptist Church. The sheriff said neither Peake nor Elkins were armed... http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081204/ARTICLES/812040335 --- Oops, Wrong House, Ohio Version: A man thwarted a home robbery on Thursday morning when he fired gunshots at two armed men who had forced their way into his home. Three adults and three children were inside the home on Azelda Avenue when the men barged in at about 2:30 a.m., 10TV's Tino Ramos reported. Josh Fields said he was awakened when one of the men put a gun to his head... Cassey Fields was also sleeping when the men broke down the home's front door, stormed inside and pointed a gun at her. Moments later, she said she heard gunshots... he gunshots were fired by her father. After hearing the men break into the home, Ken Fields grabbed his own gun and confronted the two men. "The first one who was at the door turned around to go out and I fired a shot at him," said Ken Fields. After being shot at, both men fled from the home. Police arrived a short time later but did not find the men, Ramos reported... http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/12/11/story_breakin_shooting.html?sid=102 --- Oops, Wrong Variety Store: When John Silva opened his St. Petersburg variety store about 9 a.m. Sunday, he brought Gertrude with him. Gertrude, he says, was his grandfather's .22 caliber Sentinel Arms revolver. Silva's other gun, Betsy - a .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol - was taken by St. Petersburg Police Saturday as evidence. Two men came in to John's Variety, 208 4th St. N., at about 8 p.m. Saturday, says Silva. Their faces were covered with something resembling a ninja mask, he says. They pointed what looked like a .45 caliber handgun at him... "I let three rounds go," he says. "Unfortunately, I missed them... "I was taught how to use a gun in the Merchant Marines," he says. "Just how to use and shoot a gun, what to do if we get pirates on board. Nothing like what I had to deal with last night, close, face-to-face contact. I don't consider myself tough. But I can handle myself. I used to be a bouncer." ... (Sorry folks but most of the time, if you need a gun, it will likely be close, face-to-face contact, not a comfortable seven yards from a stationary target.) http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/07/071552/st-pete-storeowner-chases-shoots-armed-robbers/ --- Oops, Wrong Liquor Store: Worcester police say a liquor store clerk fatally shot a man who was trying to rob the store. Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst said the masked man was shot multiple times as he and an accomplice tried to hold up Big Bob's Liquors about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Forty-year-old Evan Louis Rivera was taken to a hospital where he later was pronounced dead. The other suspect, who police have not identified, fled on foot and has not been found. Authorities did not release the clerk's name. Police said Rivera carried a .375-caliber handgun into the store. He had a criminal background, including a 15-year sentence for two counts of armed robbery in Florida. The worker and another store employee have not been charged with any crime. Both employees were licensed to possess and carry guns. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/11/mass_liquor_store_clerk_fatally_shoots_robber/ Related Articles: Fellow package store workers yesterday stood behind a Worcester liquor clerk who fatally shot an allegedly armed would-be robber in what appeared to be a bold act of self-defense. "He had to protect himself. He didn't know what they were going to do," said 29-year-old Jesse Nowosacki of Auburn Package Store, referring to a clerk at a Worcester liquor store who shot and killed a masked man during an attempted holdup Wednesday night... http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2008_12_12_Robber_shot_dead_in_liquor_store_holdup:_Clerk_cheered_for_holding_own_in_heist/srvc=news&position=also ...John Rosenthal, co-founder of Stop Handgun Violence and a rifle owner, said he supports responsible gun ownership and the use of firearms in self-defense. "It's a good thing the store clerk was licensed and trained and prevented this heinous crime," he said. "If it was all legal, power to the guy." ... http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1138553 --- The Mumbai Massacre - It Could Happen Here: The firearms massacres that have periodically caused shock and horror around the world have all been utterly dwarfed by the Bombay shootings, in which a handful of gunmen left some five hundred people killed or wounded. Commentators have been swift to insist that we must all "stand firm" against such outrage; but behind the rhetoric, the pundits have been visibly uncertain how an assault like that in India can be prevented or resisted. The Bombay massacre exposed the myth of a number of our security assumptions... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6324 --- Arming India Against Terrorism: For three bloody days, just 10 determined killers held a city of 18 million hostage. The sheer ignominy of this fact has jolted Mumbaikars -- and Indians -- out of their fabled chalta hai (anything goes) attitude, and into a burst of citizen activism. Even Mumbai's business community has shed its habitual political timidity and filed an extraordinary public-interest lawsuit demanding that the government fulfill its constitutional obligation to protect its citizens. But Indians shouldn't just stop there. They should also demand reform of the country's draconian gun laws - a holdover from British times - that prevent them from defending themselves. That would surely deliver far quicker results than waiting for India's slow-moving political classes to plug the vast lacunae in the country's security apparatus... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877201598989093.html Related Commentary: http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/2008/12/11/time-to-relax-indias-gun-control-laws-to-fight-militants/ http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1071186 --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the week are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .