Brady Bunch Sues Over Guns in Parks: Making good on a promise to fight what it called "the Bush administration's parting gift for the gun lobby," an anti-gun group filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to overturn new regulations that allow people to carry concealed weapons in virtually every national park and wildlife refuge. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence suit says six of its members who frequently visited national parks no longer will do so because of fears about gun violence, including two teachers who will either cancel or curtail field trips to Ellis Island in New York and the Mall in the District... It is not clear whether the incoming Barack Obama administration will reconsider the change. A spokesman said Mr. Obama will review all "eleventh-hour" regulation changes and address them after he takes office. (Amazing! There is no such thing as a carry permit in DC and it is virtually impossible to get such a permit in New York City so how does the NPS rule allow people to carry concealed weapons in the cited locations?) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/31/national-park-gun-carrying-rule-prompts-suit/ http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4184/53/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/brady_campaign_sues_to_stop_national_park_gun_rule/C41/L41/ http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-30-2008/0004947767&EDATE= --- The Beat Goes On: In his 19 years as a gun dealer in Chadron [SD], Rich Slee has never seen as much business as he did in the week following the victory of Barack Obama in the election for U.S. President. And the demand for handguns and military style assault weapons generated by fears that the Obama administration will attempt to tighten gun laws has continued since the Nov. 4 election, Slee said last week... Gun dealers in the region and nationwide have been reporting similar experiences (see story on page 5B), as gun enthusiasts rush to purchase the type of weapons that they believe might be targeted for restrictions. Repeated campaign assurances from Obama that he would uphold the Second Amendment right to bear arms did little to convince them otherwise... http://www.thechadronnews.com/articles/2008/12/29/chadron/headlines/doc49496ce0c5196642512057.txt Gun sales in the waning months of 2008 saw a dramatic spike in Utah, a trend gunowners say is propelled by the election of Barack Obama and a faltering economy. Nearly 9,000 more guns were sold this November compared to the same month last year, and while numbers aren't available yet for December, Lt. Doug Anderson, manager at the Bureau of Criminal Identification, anticipates another large leap for the end of the month. Gun shops are saying the same... http://callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com/news/2008/12/30/3882133.htm Guns and ammunition have been flying off the shelves in area gun shops since Barack Obama won the presidential election. "There has been a huge increase in sales," said Jim Losie, owner of Losie's Gun Shop in Oneonta [NY], on Monday. "Gun manufacturers can't keep up with supply and demand. "A lot of manufacturers are totally out of guns," Losie added. "I have never seen anything like this in 29 years of business." Losie said his gun sales have increased 22 to 25 percent, and he is seeing people coming from a 100-mile radius to purchase firearms. Gun enthusiasts nationwide are stocking up on firearms, partly out of fear that the combination of an Obama administration and a Democrat-dominated Congress will result in tougher gun laws... http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_365040051.html --- Santa Shooting, California Law and More Infringements: News of a man dressing up in a Santa suit and murdering nine people in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve dominated cable news headlines for days after the event. News reports suggest Bruce Pardo took as many as four handguns and a homemade flame-thrower to the home of his ex-wife's parents, where at least 25 people were enjoying a Christmas Eve party. Pardo shot at partygoers and burned down the house, murdering at least nine people before committing suicide hours later... Indeed, there is much to be learned from this tragedy, which occurred in a state that has passed every conceivable form of gun control the gun grabbers have promoted, all in the name of reducing the violence... (The author appears to have confused the restriction of one handgun purchase every 30 days with the ten-day waiting period for virtually all firearm purchases in California.) http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6362 --- Prohibitionists Campaign Against Campus Carry: Recently, a handful of people forwarded me a letter that was sent from the President of GunFreeKids.org as well as Toby Hoover (Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence) and whose recipient is unknown because the address has been redacted. The content and context of the letter indicates that it was sent to a college in Ohio (more likely it was sent to ALL public colleges). This letter warned of the gun lobby's attempts to preempt public universities across the country, forcing their hands to allow concealed carry within their borders, and was laden with reasons why universities should oppose any legislation to allow this... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6355 --- RKBA Bill Headed to Ohio Governor: Buckeye Firearms Association leaders were on hand Wednesday as the Senate's Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice passed Rep. Bruce Goodwin's House Bill 450, legislation that would restore gun rights to members of the armed services or the Ohio National Guard who are between the ages of 18 and 21, by a 7-2 vote. While the committee did not address any of the amendments Buckeye Firearms Association considered most important for gun owners**, several last minute amendments were adopted by the committee, including one that, if not for the efforts of Buckeye Firearms Association and the National Rifle Association, would have raised fees on concealed handgun license-holders 30% or more... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6347 --- Why No Rights for Pizza Men?: Chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza have rules forbidding delivery drivers from exercising their right to carry while on the job, even though delivering pizza can be a dangerous job (at least 15 drivers were killed in robberies in 2007.) That "no Right-to-Carry allowed" policy may be the reason that Pizza Hut driver Eric Devictoria was unarmed when he was robbed at gunpoint in Florida a few days ago. Devictoria had only one thing to use in self-defense: the pepperoni pizza he was supposed to be delivering. He threw the pizza box at his attackers ... they fired a gun in return... http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=480 --- Oops, Wrong Store: A store manager behind the counter of a Pembroke Pines [FL] convenience store turned the tables on a pair of armed robbers Monday night when he pulled out a gun and shot them, police said. The shooting happened about 7:40 p.m., when Joshua Hammond and Yacov Sims walked into the Stop-N-Go, 7781 Johnson St., and ordered customers to the ground, according to Pembroke Pines police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Davis. Davis said Hammond, 20, jumped over the counter and demanded money from the register while Sims, 18, stood by with a revolver in his hand. Hammond stuffed cash from the register into his pockets and then told Shedahe Abdel, the store manager, to open the safe. When Sims walked up to Abdel and pointed his handgun at him, Abdel grabbed his own handgun from his waistband and shot Hammond in the leg. Abdel then fired several rounds at Sims, striking him once in the arm... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/831039.html --- Oops, Wrong Tree: An ongoing neighborhood squabble about a cat stuck in a tree led a Phoenix police officer into a flurry of public criticism Tuesday for confronting would-be rescuers in his pajamas with his gun drawn. The officer hustled outside, flashing his badge, worried for a moment that an intruder interrupted his afternoon nap by climbing a ladder into his backyard near Bell Road and 12th Street... (Curiously, Arizona law allows the threat of deadly physical force to stop the commission of a criminal trespass.) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/12/31/20081231phxcat1231.html --- More Details on Texas Shooting: The Milam County Sheriff's Office released additional details Monday about the shooting death of a man wielding a baseball bat who had forced his way into his ex-wife's rural home. The shooting was reported around 2 a.m. Sunday on County Road 218 in Milam County, where deputies found Eddie Sexton III, 34, of Milano dead of a gunshot wound. Investigators said Monday it appears Sexton was shot once after forcing his way into his ex-wife's home and that after the shooting, Sexton's ex-wife called 911 and attempted to administer first aid. The sheriff's office did not say who fired the fatal shot and did not identify the woman. No charges have been filed, but in a press release Monday, the sheriff's office said the results of its investigation will be forwarded to the Milam County District Attorney's Office for presentation to a grand jury. (Grand jury hearings are the norm in Texas, where "no bill" is the finding if the shooting is justified.) http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/36839679.html --- Rule One Reminder: The Pueblo County sheriff's office says a woman was injured after being accidentally shot by her husband, an off-duty Pueblo police officer... The woman, Robin Vaughn, was transported to Parkview Medical Center, where she was treated for a gunshot wound to her torso. Authorities say a preliminary investigation showed Vaughn's husband, Pueblo police officer Stephen Vaughn, had just finished cleaning a pistol when it discharged. The two were in separate rooms at the time, and the round struck Robin Vaughn after traveling through a wall... (While few details are provided, my best guess is that this may have been a "dry-fire" incident, in which the officer did not recall that he had already loaded the gun after cleaning. This is why dry fire requires a solid backstop. Rule One: All firearms are always loaded.) http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/29/pueblo-police-officer-accidentally-shoots-wife-whi/ --- Speaking of Bullets Through Walls... : The father of the man who suffered a bullet wound to his face when an Ottawa police officer shot a woman at a highrise apartment building Monday said his son called police to the apartment because the woman was distraught and he was worried she would hurt herself. Jack Lindsey said his son, Steven, 27, was sitting in the bedroom of the 12th-floor apartment unit at 810 Pinecrest Rd., just south of Carling Avenue, when police shot the woman. Mr. Lindsey said police told him that the woman charged at the officers with a knife before one of the officers shot her in the chest, near her armpit. The bullet went through the woman's upper chest and armpit area, he said, and through the bedroom wall, where it hit his son just below his right eye... http://www.vancouversun.com/Police+officer+hits+people+with+bullet/1123001/story.html --- Tongue in Cheek: I thought it amazing that you recently published the letter about Bill of Rights Day. This nation is currently facing many problems, and I would suggest one simple, sweeping, answer to those problems: repeal the Bill of Rights. Let me start with one of my favorites: consider the Second Amendment. The NRA often argues that any laws restricting a citizen's right to bear arms are unconstitutional, and they are correct. So we remove that from the Constitution. Guns are made illegal. The federal government then can take control of all factories, shut down all gun shops, firing ranges, and conventions, and conduct house by house searches to seize all firearms. Crime would plummet... http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=259465&src= --- Tangentially Related: ...Earlier this month, the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal think tank and law firm "dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of our Constitution's text and history," published their version of this unfortunate story. Written by the legal scholars David H. Gans and Douglas T. Kendall, the result is an informative, though ultimately incomplete study that fails to acknowledge the essential role classical liberalism played in keeping the 14th Amendment alive. Given that a newly restored Privileges or Immunities Clause has the potential to impact both the Bill of Rights (including the Second Amendment) and various unenumerated rights (including privacy and sexual liberty), it's no surprise that Gans and Kendall want to weigh in on the progressive side. Which makes it all the more important to get the story straight... http://reason.com/news/show/130787.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .