Big Surprise: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called on the Homeland Security Department and the U.S. Secret Service on Wednesday to provide tighter restrictions on citizens carrying weapons, openly or concealed, while in the vicinity of President Barack Obama. Norton, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, made the request after numerous news reports have shown groups of people brandishing firearms while outside of events held by Obama over the past several weeks. "It is clear that if the Secret Service can temporarily clear all aircraft from air space when the president is in the vicinity, the agency has the authority to clear guns on the ground that are even closer to the President," Norton said. But the Secret Service says that Obama was never in danger when a group of about a dozen protesters brandished their firearms outside the Phoenix convention center earlier this week where he was speaking. One man carried an AR-15 assault rifle, but Arizona law allows people to carry unconcealed guns and police made no arrests... (When elected officials and their appointees treat citizens as subjects, it is natural that they should come to fear them. Even Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have answered the White House door himself. The first fence did not go up around the White House lawn until the first administration of Grover Cleveland, when Fanny tired of District matrons hiding in the bushes so they could tousle the hair of Baby Ruth, when she came out to play.) http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/d.c.-delegate-calls-for-ban-on-guns-near-obama-2009-08-19.html From New Hampshire to Arizona, Americans openly carrying firearms have been seen outside Presidential appearances. The most remarkable thing about this is that some find this behavior to be remarkable. American citizens are the sovereigns in our system of government. Indeed, We the People created the government which, at least in theory, only does what we tell it to do in the Constitution. Sovereigns are expected to be armed... The armed attendees made it clear that they were exercising their right to keep and bear arms. Zero tolerance of firearms has become so extreme that even a picture of a gun can get a student kicked out of school. The presence of armed citizens helps correct the notion that guns are inherently dangerous... http://www.lincolncountyrecord.com/pages/090820gun We have seen over the past few weeks protesters carrying guns to President Obama's speeches in New Hampshire and Arizona. Some are classifying it as a danger to the public and the President. However others are classifying it as gun ownership loosing it's stigma.... However many gun-rights proponents view it differently. They view it as a sign of re-normalization of gun ownership in America. A sign supported by the spreading of the must issue laws across more and more states. Must issue laws mandate that anyone who meets the requirements for a gun permit must be issued one. Congress too appears to be easing up on gun control as well. They passed legislation allowing guns in federal parks this year... Do you think the protesters who have carried guns to the Presidents speeches have helped or hurt the gun rights movement. I want to hear from all of you on this, so if you have a comment please post it or email it to me directly... http://www.examiner.com/x-16327-Clark-County-Liberal-Examiner~y2009m8d19-Did-gun-carrying-protesters-hurt-gun-rights --- In the 1920s, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach developed the test now forever linked with his name. The idea behind the "Rorschach Test" is that a person's interpretation of, or response to, a series of inkblots could help to reveal an underlying psychological disorder. As is the case for many areas of psychology, the efficacy of such testing may no doubt be debated, but the events of August 17 in Phoenix, Arizona offers observers of the American body politic the opportunity to study a similar phenomena. http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5241 The Second Amendment Foundation today accused MSNBC of using deceptively-edited video from a Phoenix, Arizona anti-tax rally on Monday to invent a racial stereotype in its on-going effort to demonize and marginalize American firearms owners as "racists." The MSNBC video, narrated by reporter Contessa Brewer, appearing with "Morning Meeting" host Dylan Ratigan, shows an AR-15 rifle being carried over a man's shoulder. The man is part of a crowd protesting near the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where President Barack Obama spoke. Brewer notes on camera, "Yes, there are Second Amendment rights, for sure, but also there are questions about whether this has a racial overtone. I mean, here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waist..." "What MSNBC purposely did not reveal with the deliberately doctored video is that the man carrying that sport-utility rifle was an African-American," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. "MSNBC knows the man was black, yet all they showed in a brief film clip was a close-up of the rifle against the man's neatly-pressed dress shirt. It was impossible to tell the man's race..." http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=301 --- The Threat from OSHA: We talked yesterday about anti-gun David Michaels, Obama's pick to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. And we saw that a "public health" excuse for infringing on the right to keep and bear arms has been used in the past. Continuing from "Second Opinion: Measuring the Violence": "A pilot project at CDC in the 1990s to monitor firearm fatalities drew ire from gun advocates and was stopped after three years. Now all money appropriated to CDC to study injuries comes with a stipulation from Congress that the funds cannot be used to advocate for gun control." ... http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d19-OSHA-pick-Michaels-will-use-public-health-scheme-to-regulate-guns --- Seventh Circuit Upholds Firearm Registration: An appeals court in Chicago has ruled that the federal, state or local government can require all citizens to register their firearms under penalty of law. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said that, even after the Supreme Court's high-profile gun rights decision last year, the Second Amendment is no obstacle to mandatory gun registration. The case arose out of the Chicago-area town of Cicero's mandatory registration requirement for firearms. A local man named John Justice was raided by the Cicero police on suspicion of violating business ordinances including improper storage of chemicals; the police discovered six unregistered handguns during the raid... http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/19/taking_liberties/entry5253857.shtml --- Stand-Your-Ground Ruling in Florida: Florida's "stand-your-ground" law allows the use of deadly force for self-protection even if an attacker or intruder is in retreat, an appellate court said Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal issued that explanation for last month releasing Jimmy Hair from jail, where he had spent two years awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge. Hair, 28, was charged with fatally shooting Charles Harper, 26. Harper had forced his way into a car in which Hair was a passenger and then tussled with him. The car was parked outside a Tallahassee nightclub where Harper earlier had argued with the driver... A trial judge had refused to grant Hair "stand-your-ground" immunity due to conflicting testimony on whether Harper was being pulled out of the car by a friend when he was shot, but the appellate court said that didn't matter... National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer said Wednesday's ruling tracked the intent of the 2005 law her organization supported. She said just because someone's in retreat doesn't mean that person won't turn around and attack again... (It looks as though the appellate courts of two districts disagree so the matter could end up with the state supreme court.) http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/gen/ap/FL_Deadly_Force.html --- NYC - When Storeowners Fight Back: An electronics store owner who shot and killed two robbers in a gunfight regretted none of it but his scars. A pet store owner who did the same and briefly became a neighborhood hero, closed his shop, moved on to other work and tried to forget. A jeweler spent the rest of his life wishing he had never chased after two men who robbed his Brooklyn store. He told his family that he only meant to wound them. Insurance, he lamented, would have covered the theft. For as long as there have been stick-up men, there have been shopkeepers who fought back. Shooting the robbers was in some ways the simplest part, requiring only the reflexes of a survivor, and a gun - though more than a few storeowners have been prosecuted for using unlicensed guns... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/nyregion/21shoot.html?ref=nyregion --- Burress Cops Plea: Facing the prospect of spending at least 3 1/2 years behind bars, one-time Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress on Thursday accepted a plea bargain with a two-year prison sentence for accidentally shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub. The former New York Giants wide receiver pleaded guilty to one count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a lesser charge than he had faced. He will be sentenced Sept. 22, and lawyer Benjamin Brafman said he expects Burress to begin serving his sentence immediately after... The guilty plea ends months of haggling between Brafman and the Manhattan district attorney's office. The case went to a grand jury after negotiations broke down, apparently because District Attorney Robert Morgenthau was insisting that Burress serve at least two years in prison... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082000647.html?hpid=moreheadlines --- Wisconsin Cities Recognize Open Carry: We all know that open carry of firearms or weapons used for personal defense have been legal since the first explorers came to Wisconsin in 1622. Open carry has never been unlawful or prohibited by state statute (some restrictions do apply). Pewaukee and De Pere have decided to repeal their city's unenforceable firearms ordinances. Although it probably seems like the right thing to do, repealing the ordinances really did not change anything. This is because all local firearms ordinances that are not the same as or similar to state law (including prohibiting openly carried firearms) have been unenforceable since November 18, 1995. Since there is no state statute to ban open carry, all such local ordinances were likewise unenforceable... http://www.examiner.com/x-5103-Wisconsin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d14-Thank-you-to-Pewaukee-and-De-Pere --- Gun-Banning Seattle Mayor Trails in Primary: ...On Wednesday, Mr. Nickels, a Democrat who has become prominent nationally for his support of environmental issues, was in danger of losing his bid for a third term as early returns in a mayoral primary here showed 75 percent of voters saying they wanted someone else... Perhaps the most surprising of the top two early leaders was Mike McGinn, a neighborhood activist and local Sierra Club leader who built his low-cost campaign around opposition to one of the mayor's signature accomplishments, an agreement finalized in January to replace the earthquake-damaged freeway. The $4.2 billion plan, approved by the state, would open downtown to Elliott Bay and views of the Olympic Mountains by demolishing the 56-year-old highway, called the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and building a two-deck tunnel... (This may prove to be one of those good news/bad news jokes.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/us/20mayor.html?_r=1&ref=us --- Remington Issues Ammo Warning: Remington has been notified by its supplier of 17 HMR ammunition that 17 HMR ammunition is not suitable for use in semi-automatic firearms. The use of this ammunition in a semi-automatic firearm could result in property damage or serious personal injury. If you have a semi-automatic firearm chambered for 17 HMR ammunition, immediately discontinue use of Remington 17 HMR ammunition. If you have any Remington 17 HMR ammunition that you wish to return to Remington contact the Remington Consumer Service number below. Do not return the ammunition to the dealer. Remington will provide you with a $10.00 coupon for each complete box of 50 rounds of Remington branded 17 HMR ammunition you return to Remington. This coupon will be good for the purchase of any Remington ammunition at your local dealer... (This is really a niche caliber - a high-quality .17-caliber bullet in a neck-down .22 Magnum case. It is a non-reloadable cartridge suited for taking small varmints.) http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_157103.asp --- Ruger Sued by Investors: An investor in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company (Public, NYSE:RGR) has filed a proposed securities class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut on behalf of purchasers of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) common stock between April 23, 2007 and October 29, 2007 against Sturm, Ruger & Company and others over alleged Federal Securities Laws violations... http://www.live-pr.com/en/sturm-ruger-company-hit-by-r1048312717.htm -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .