A List Member Replies: The referenced PDF court document [http://blog.princelaw.com/assets/2009/4/15/Motion_in_Limine_NFRTR.pdf] that describes the BATFE error rates should be copied and stored by anyone who owns NFA registered items. It could prove to be priceless for a criminal defense someday. Back about 1994, I had a routine records examination of my NFA inventory. Apparently, a few of my machine guns were not recorded in the NFA registry. My copies of the NFA Branch transfers resulted in the recording of the info. Whew. I was told back then that some NFA Branch examiners had been throwing out transfer documents, instead of filing them, to avoid having to do work. The examiners were described as Washington DC residents who were female racial minorities... The NFA Branch has since moved to West Virginia, and not many of the examiners were willing to move with the office... The efficiency rate of the office has increased dramatically since then... (This is in regard to the Friesen case.) Tory Media Ignores Friesen Case: Regardless of your position on guns, it would be disingenuous to argue the outcome of the Doug Friesen case is not "news." When the government is aggresively prosecuting a citizen, trying to put him away for up to 10 years and penalize him $250,000 for multiple felonies, and when they agree to dismiss charges in exchange for his agreement to surrender an item of disputed property, pay a $25 fine, and receive probation for a misdemeanor plea, curiosity should at least be piqued among the newshounds... It's appalling, especially when you realize the ATF and the Justice Department were doing their damnedest to put a man away, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so at a time we're told resources and manpower are stretched... http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d31-Silence-on-Friesen-case-shows-continued-media-failure-on-guns A Look Back to the 1930's: About once a year, Mitchell County Sheriff Curt Younker pulls the machine gun out of its display case, goes to a shooting range and lets a round go. This is a Thompson submachine gun - but there was a time when everyone knew it by its nickname: Tommy gun. "In the 1930s, rural counties were given the guns to help them fight gangsters," Younker said, feeling the weight of the weapon. North Iowans knew all about guns in the summer of 1934 - in fact, Cerro Gordo, Howard and Mitchell counties formed the stage on which the last days of some of the era's most notorious outlaws were played out... (The publicity about the use of Thompson's by gangsters helped usher in the National Fireams Act. It was couched it as a tax measure to obfuscate the fact that it violates the Second Amendment. For those not familiar with the Thompson, the photo makes it appear longer than it really is.) http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2009/08/30/news/local/doc4a9a06b3360ec280318304.txt --- The Racist Results of "Gun Control": Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics show that in states with more gun control, Blacks are hindered from defending their lives, while Whites are not. After extracting civilian justifiable homicide data from the FBI Supplement Homicide reports for 2000-2007, there are clear inequities between Blacks and Whites in states which restrict the right of self-defense by not granting concealed carry permits to law-abiding citizens. Conversely, in right-to-carry (RTC) states - where law-abiding civilians carry concealed handguns in public - Blacks experienced above-average rates of justifiable homicide. A previous article examined the racist history of American gun control, which reached its zenith after the Civil War via the Black Codes, enabling southern Whites to keep newly-freed Blacks in quasi-slavery. But these laws were nothing new. As early as 1640, Virginia instituted colonial support for their militia, but specifically excluded Blacks: "All persons except negroes to be provided with arms and ammunition or be fined at pleasure of the Governor and Council." Gun control as a tool of Black oppression is an American tradition: Slaves don't own guns... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d31-More-evidence-why-Blacks-should-be-against-gun-control --- House Committee Backs RKBA in Public Housing: Gun rights advocates scored a victory Thursday as the House Financial Services Committee adopted an amendment to allow guns in public housing projects. The amendment, by Tom Price , R-Ga., would bar any housing authority from restricting legal ownership of guns. It was adopted, 38-31, as the committee continued its markup of a housing bill (HR 3045) that the panel is expected to approve next week. "Seniors and other individuals have the right to protect themselves," said Joe Baca of California, one of 13 Democrats who voted for the amendment. "Those guns would be registered, and those individuals have a right, in public housing or any other place, to protect themselves." While the Department of Housing and Urban Development does not have a specific policy concerning guns in public housing, several local agencies have banned them in an effort to reduce violent crime in housing projects. Major urban centers began to adopt gun bans in the 1990s, and advocates of such steps argue that the bans have improved the safety of public housing... (It's nice to see the quote from a California congressman when the San Francisco Housing Authority was one of the biggest violators, until it settled the lawsuit.) http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003161861 --- Another Look at North Carolina's Felon Ruling: A state law barring felons from owning firearms unfairly prevented a Garner man from owning guns, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled Friday, thrusting the court into the national debate over gun ownership. The opinion applied only to Barney Britt, who was convicted of a drug crime in 1979, and it didn't have an immediate effect on the thousands of other felons in the state. Criminal defense lawyers who practice in federal courts said they don't know what effect, if any, the opinion will have on federal rules, which prevent felons from buying and owning weapons except when a state has restored that right. The ruling authored by Justice Edward Thomas Brady held that Britt should be able to own guns and that the state unfairly took away his right to own a firearm with a 2004 law that barred felons from owning firearms. Britt was convicted in 1979 of selling Quaalude pills, but he didn't have any further tangles with the law... (Arizona routinely allows non-violent felons to regain the RKBA.) http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1670142.html http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d1-Court-restores-gun-rights-to-felon-some-worry-about-precedent-set --- Pittsburgh Ignores State Preemption: Everyone knows that you don't get to choose which laws you're going to obey. Whether you like or dislike a rule or regulation, the law is the law. Unless you are a city, it seems. Ever since statewide preemption passed in Pennsylvania back in 1994, prohibiting local municipalities from regulating "ownership, possession or transportation of firearms", some big cities with anti-gun administrations have fought to regain the ability to again control their citizens' gun rights through loopholes or flat out defying the law. The latest attempt comes from Pittsburgh, who is now claiming that a clause in a proposed ordinance enacting special rules for crowd control in relation to the upcoming G-20 summit would allow a return of that city's "assault weapons ban". The proposed ordinance includes a ban on "contraband weapons" being used for the purpose of defeated police attempts at crowd control. With no sunset clause and many sections yet to be defined, some are calling it a back-door ban on those firearms and leads the way for an extended ban... http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d31-Pittsburgh-looks-for-excuses-to-ignore-gun-law-restriction --- Open-Carry Picnic in Wisconsin: More than 300 concerned citizens attended a recent open carry picnic at the St. Croix County Fairgrounds. Many participants came to the gathering with a pistol strapped to their waist. The Tribune Press Reporter reports that Dave and Annette Olson of Glenwood City organized the event as a way to inform people about their right to carry firearms, as provided in the second amendment of the Constitution. With the help of friends, the Olsons organized the event and provided all of the food for the picnic. A donation bucket was also there to offset expenses. The open carry picnic also featured several guest speakers, including a Jefferson County judge and a former law enforcement officer. A similar event for this fall in Hudson is in its planning stages. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1132&dept_id=597258&newsid=20364943&PAG=461&rfi=9 --- Heads in the Grass: Monday at midnight, a controversial state law will take effect: Guns will be allowed in local parks. Many communities, though, chose to opt out of the new state law and continue to ban firearms, but that might not last for long. Douglas Donley and Kellie Miller enjoyed a beautiful day Monday in Percy Warner Park. They said they don't need a gun to feel safe; the buddy system works just fine for them. "I'm glad that they are banning the guns in parks," said Donley. "I don't know why anybody would need to carry one." The ban on firearms will still be in effect at Percy Warner and other Metro parks. But starting at midnight, permit holders will be allowed to carry firearms in parks that chose not to opt of the state law. Mt. Juliet, Fairview, Columbia and Gallatin are just a few places that will allow them. But in places like Nashville and Murfreesboro, the ban may be short-lived. "Ultimately, it's going to be for the Legislature to open up the local parks as a matter of state law. That way, there's a uniform statewide policy that's consistent with the state parks and the federal parks," said John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association. State lawmakers will try to allow guns in all parks next session. The Tennessee Firearms Association said the opt-out has done more harm than good... (I remain amazed at the perception that children are at greater risk if people who have passed background checks are carrying guns than if only lawbreakers do so.) http://www.wsmv.com/news/20652917/detail.html --- Meanwhile, in Arizona...: Bar and restaurant owners are scrambling to post new signs banning firearms in their establishments before a new concealed-carry law takes effect this month. Starting Sept. 29, gun owners with permits to carry concealed weapons will be able to take their weapons into establishments that serve liquor, so long as they do not drink. The state's 5,900 bars and restaurants that sell alcohol can ban firearms at their establishments but only if they post a conspicuous sign advertising the ban. Sen. Ken Cheuvront said he has been trying for "weeks" to get a sign from the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control, which is distributing free signs to licensees... (No, the signs are not free - they are being paid for by the taxpayers whose rights they will infringe. The sign [http://azliquor.gov/] has a picture of a pistol that looks as though it was designed by Arnold Schwarzenegger's property master, sort of a cross between a Desert Eagle and a 1911 with a massive compensator. I was under the impression that the effective date for the new laws is September 30.) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/09/01/20090901barsigns0901.html --- Oops, Wrong House, North Carolina Version: A Hillsborough homeowner took matters into his own hands when would-be burglars entered his home. It happened last Friday around 11:30 p.m. at a home on Faucette Mill Road. The homeowner told police he heard someone forcing his door open so he got his gun and found three people standing in his living room. Police said he fired one shot and hit 19-year-old Christopher Williams in the chest. The homeowner said after the shooting, he saw four men running from his house. Police charged Williams and 18-year-old Audricus Southerland with first-degree burglary. Police are looking for two other suspects. Williams was taken to UNC Hospitals where he underwent surgery. The homeowner has not been charged. (Apparently, the authorities saw nothing wrong with the homeowner "taking matters into his own hands." Should he have cowered under a bed instead?) http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news&id=6992835 --- Oops, Wrong House, Tennessee Version: Police said a 60-year-old man shot a teenager who tried to rob his home Saturday night. Metro police said the break-in happened on Lindy Murff Court in south Nashville. The 60-year-old resident shot one of the two robbers in the chest. Later, the two robbers showed up at the Shell station on Haywood Lane in Antioch, asking for help, police said. The wounded man claimed he had been robbed and shot during the robbery. Paramedics rushed the wounded man to the hospital, and he is expected to survive. The other man has been arrested. Police have not released their names. (Note how criminals who select the wrong victims will claim that they themselves were victims of crime. This is why it is so crucial to be the first to call 911. Hint: be sure you've always got your cell phone.) http://www.wsmv.com/news/20633145/detail.html http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2009m8d31-60-year-old-Nashville-man-shoots-home-invader-in-self-defense --- More on Wrong Choice of Grocery: Jackson [MS] police were trying Sunday night to identify a burglary suspect who was shot and killed while allegedly trying to break into a grocery store... The suspect, who did not have any identification, was carrying a large knife and a handgun, Vance said. He was shot when he reached for one of the weapons. Police found the suspect dead near the rear door. Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said the suspect was shot once in the chest with a shotgun... Police are not releasing the name of the shooter because he is not expected to be charged. Vance said the shooter, who is a family member of the owner, lives inside the business when it is closed. "Whether this falls under the Castle Doctrine or not, I can't say, but this appears to be a justifiable shooting. This was an armed man attempting to break into a store," Vance said... http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090831/NEWS/908310323/Man-allegedly-tried-to-break-into-store --- What Caliber for Private Planes?: ...The sound of planes taking off and landing, are pretty normal at the Fulton [MO] airport. Gunshots, are not. "They were here doing some instruction and some flights and having a good social event," said airport manager Travis St. John. St. John estimates about six pilots were doing some training work Saturday night, when they were interrupted by Judy Davis, 69, of Fulton, who was upset that a plane was flying too close to her house, which is next-door to the property... Police say Davis became so upset, she grabbed a loaded .22 calibur [sic] handgun and headed down to the terminal, where she announced to those inside that she was going to shoot down a plane. She made her way out to the runway, where another pilot was preparing to land. Davis then fired a shot from her gun... Davis is out of jail after posting bond... (With friends like these...) http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=343788 --- Guilty Plea in Ammo Sales to Government: An arms dealer in Miami Beach who had extensive business with the Pentagon to supply ordnance for Afghanistan's security forces pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy. The dealer, Efraim E. Diveroli, left, of AEY Inc., admitted that he had arranged the repackaging of millions of old, made-in-China cartridges for assault rifles, and then had certified that they had been made in Albania. As part of a plea agreement, the government dropped more than 80 other charges. Two other men who worked for AEY on the Afghan contract have also pleaded guilty. A fourth man is awaiting trial. At his sentencing on Nov. 10, Mr. Diveroli, 23, could receive up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (For those who may not recall the case, AEY took advantage of the fact that the US needed large amounts of 7.62x39mm ammo for our Afghan allies. Thanks to a Clinton executive order, it was illegal for the US to purchase Chinese ammo.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/world/americas/01briefs-ARMSbrf.html?ref=politics --- When Guns Are Outlawed...: A man has died after being deliberately run down by a car outside the Ministry of Sound nightclub, sparking a gun battle in the street that left one man injured. The incident was the second nightclub shooting in the capital over the weekend, and comes as police hunt a gunman who opened fire inside a packed nightclub in north London. The Ministry of Sound gunfight happened just before 5am yesterday. The man left the club, which was packed with 2,000 revellers, with three friends and was walking along the street when a people carrier drove straight at them. The man, believed to be in his twenties, was hit by the vehicle before his three friends pulled out guns and started firing shots at the car. A 29-year-old, believed to have been in the car, suffered gunshot wounds to his shoulder and is in a serious condition in hospital. Witnesses had reported that the man who was killed was decapitated during the collision... http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23738514-details/Gun+battle+outside+nightclub+after+man+%27decapitated%27+by+car/article.do --- Free Website to Advertise Guns: A college student started a Web site similar to Craigslist but its only target is buyers and sellers of guns. Zach Terhark, 20, says he wanted to buy a shotgun last year. Being a big Internet user, he checked Craigslist. He realized neither it nor any other Web site at the time carried local gun classifieds. Now, his Web site does. From shotguns and handguns to ammo for almost any gun, gunlistings.org has almost 2,000 listings, and it's growing... Terhark is an Iowa-raised farm boy with a background in Web design and a college major in business and accounting. He got the idea last summer. "It's a free business model, so it's completely free to make a listing and to buy listings, so it's really been spreading really quickly, nationally and specifically in the Springfield area," said Terhark. The Web site is organized by state, city, and specific category, similar to Craigslist. The question arises why that Web site doesn't sell guns... http://www.ky3.com/news/local/56273577.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .