Mayors Against the RKBA: The bipartisan national group with the apt name Mayors Against Illegal Guns has won a major victory. For some states, including Indiana, there's more to lament than celebrate. The coalition made up of more than 350 municipal chief executives - 10 from Indiana, none from Central Indiana - managed to persuade Congress to ease access to once-closely guarded "trace data," the federal records of traffic in firearms used in crimes. And what did those records show? That 10 states, Indiana included, were the source of 57 percent of the guns used in crimes outside those states. That those states tended to have the weakest laws governing the sale and tracking of guns. That those weak laws correlate with higher rates of in-state murder and shootings of police officers... (I think we are seeing the shape of the so-called "common-sense regulation" that Big Brother believes is compatible with the Second Amendment. Local control has banned handguns in Washington DC until very recently and severely restricted legal ownership in cities such as New York and Chicago; Los Angeles, as I recall, has driven every gun shop within its city limits out of business.) http://www.indystar.com/article/20081221/OPINION08/812210399/1291/OPINION08 --- Big Brother's Nuanced Stance on the RKBA: ...Is it any wonder, then, that the nation's gunowners, which are estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 million citizens, are not comforted by Obama's words on gun rights when he says, 'I think that people can take me at my word'? So what, then, did he say about guns? He said that he supports an individual right to own guns but that states and local entities can place restrictions on those rights. This nuance business is starting to give me a headache... http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2008/12/nuanced-stance-on-guns.html -- The Beat Goes On: Is it forward thinking, or simply jumping the gun? With some gun buyers fearing a return to 1990s Clinton-era firearm regulations, several gun shops in Lee and Collier counties are reporting increased sales in the wake of Barack Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States. Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, played a critical role in the passage of the Brady Bill in 1993, legislation that mandated a five-day waiting period before the purchase of a handgun. Biden also helped craft the Crime Bill of 1994, which included a 10-year federal ban on 19 types of military-style assault weapons. President George W. Bush allowed the ban to expire in 2004, once again making firearms such as Uzis, AK-47s and TEC-9s legally available for purchase... http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/dec/21/presidential-election-boon-gun-shop-owners/ Even in California...: It is time for the gun show season to start. Cal Expo is hosting the first show of the year on January 3-4, 2009. I always have a great time at these shows. There are vendors selling reloaded ammo, knives, guns, darts, archery stuff, survival items, clothing, survival books, home made jerky and fun democrat bashing bumper stickers. Based on the current political climate, now is a good time to start hoarding ammo, etc. A gun can be purchased at the show but there is a waiting period. Curio guns are treated differently. Support the right to bear arms, come to the show and buy a gun! (Ironically, the ammunition I recently purchased at the huge gun show in Phoenix was being sold by Miwall, a firm located in rural California.) http://www.rosevillept.com/detail/101658.html --- NRA Lobbyist Retains Clout in Ohio: First, the lobbyist stopped a bill dealing with dog breeders - after Senate leaders scheduled it for a vote. A few hours later, John Hohenwarter persuaded senators to stay after midnight to strip language out of a another bill - an amendment backed by county sheriffs that would have increased fees for concealed-carry licenses by $8 - after the bill already had passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin. Not a bad night's work for a lobbyist who never set foot inside the Statehouse. When you represent the National Rifle Association, sometimes all you need is a phone - and lawmakers willing to take your call even during legislative sessions... http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/12/21/NRA_clout.ART_ART_12-21-08_A1_J2CA297.html?sid=101 --- Helping the Exterminator?: Kenneth Phelps was not going to let an exterminator into his apartment, no matter what. This act cost him his life, according to police. Phelps, 40, who lived in an apartments at 3344 McHenry Ave., had been served eviction papers earlier in the week, police said. When the building's maintenance man came with the exterminator Wednesday afternoon to spray the building, as he does every third Wednesday of the month, Phelps would not let them in, police said... The men began to argue. During the fight, Phelps left his apartment and pulled out a knife. The maintenance man, whom police did not identify, then shot Phelps once in the chest with a handgun that he was carrying legally, according to police... http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20081218/NEWS0107/312170110/ --- Oops, Wrong House: Police tell News Three 52-year-old Ludwig Grudisher was burglarizing a home off of Reese Road when he was shot. The homeowner discovered Grudisher outside of the home in his vehicle and fired in self defense. Police say Grudisher died from being shot in the face. The homeowner is not being charged in this homicide because it was on his property... http://www.wrbl.com/index.php/news/article/columbus-man-killed-while-burlarizing-a-home/51981/ --- Interesting Head Shot: A day after he was hit by a stray bullet in the back of the head, 74-year-old E.T. Strickland was back at work today - with the slug still stuck in his skull. "I am the luckiest guy in the world," Strickland said from his business, Sunrise Financial Corp. in Palm Beach Gardens. "An inch more to the front and it would have hit me straight on. As it is, it just glanced around and lodged in the back." ...Strickland, who had a heart attack last month, said his doctors told him they may not remove the bullet unless it is pressing on any arteries or causing health problems. He said he plans to see a neurosurgeon for a second opinion because he would like the bullet removed if at all possible... (It's well documented that bullets with rounded ogives often penetrate the scalp and skid around the outside of the skull when they strike the head off center. This is the first case I've seen where one appears to have skidded around the inside of a skull.) http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/17/1217rbshoot.html --- LAPD Officer Under Investigation for Gun-Running: A veteran Los Angeles police officer who operates a security company in Belize is under federal investigation for allegedly smuggling handguns into the Central American nation, according to law enforcement sources and internal LAPD documents. Officer Johnny Baltazar is accused of purchasing eight .40-caliber Glocks from the LAPD Academy store and secretly shipping them, along with two other guns and 1,530 rounds of ammunition, to Belize where he runs a company called Elite Security, according to documents obtained by The Times... Importing handguns larger than 9 millimeters is banned in Belize under a 2002 law, according to the police documents... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-belize22-2008dec22,0,5001327.story --- Rule Five Reminder: More than a dozen Christmases have passed since 5-year-old Eric Manuel Payne found a .25-caliber handgun under his great-grandmother's pillow and accidentally shot himself in the head. Like many other residents in her Ybor City neighborhood, Lillie Mae Stokes-Jackson had been the victim of a crime and had bought the gun to protect herself. She never dreamed her great-grandson would find it. But like many little boys, Eric was fascinated by guns... (Rule Five: Maintain Control of your firearm. The most important thing gun-owning parents should do with children is to demystify guns for them - let the children know they can see the guns anytime they want, so long as they ask first and follow the safety rules when handling them.) http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article943771.ece -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .