No Clear Sign from Ninth Circuit: A divided federal appeals court wrestled Thursday with potentially the most important gun case in its history, a dispute over a firearms ban at the Alameda County Fairgrounds that has expanded into a constitutional battle over state and local authority to regulate gun possession. Some judges on an 11-member panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared to agree with gun-rights advocates that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, recently interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court to protect an individual's right to own guns, is binding on states and can be used to challenge the county ordinance. Others noted that the high court has never overturned its own 19th century rulings that said the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government. And one judge suggested the court should uphold the ordinance as a valid public safety measure without deciding the constitutional issue... But Chief Judge Alex Kozinski suggested that the Supreme Court had discarded its 19th century rulings when it started applying other Bill of Rights protections to the states in 1929... (List members may wish to read a quotation from Kozinski at http://www.spw-duf.info/quotes.html - if you type Ctrl + F and enter "kozinski," your browser will take you to the end of the quite, then you can scroll up to the beginning.) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/24/BA0119S7I5.DTL&tsp=1 En banc arguments in a controversial gun rights case were animated Thursday, but don't be surprised if the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sits on this one for awhile. A federal appellate court in Chicago said in June that the Second Amendment should not restrict state gun control laws until the Supreme Court rules that the right binds the states. The high court is scheduled to make up its mind next week about whether to grant cert. "That may well give us an answer, and there would be no need for us to decide this case," 9th Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt said. Judge Susan Graber also wondered aloud at another point whether the circuit needed to rule on the constitutional issues... The 9th Circuit appeared split on how far to go with the Second Amendment. Liberal stalwart Judge Harry Pregerson lambasted gun show attorney Donald Kilmer Jr., asking whether there would be more guns in California if Kilmer's side prevailed... http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434067803&hbxlogin=1 Update 9/24 9:31 p.m.: The Ninth Circuit has just handed down a one-page order delaying consideration of this case until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether or not to hear the lawsuits arising out of Chicago and New York state. The justices are scheduled to discuss those cases on September 29, and are likely to announce their decision soon after... But whether the Second Amendment applies to states remains an open question. It may seem like an odd one: After all, the First Amendment starts out by saying "Congress shall make no law," but the Supreme Court has interpreted that language to prevent states (and even state universities) from suppressing political speech. The Fourth Amendment has been interpreted to restrict state police from conducting "unreasonable searches," and while the right to an abortion is not clearly found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution, the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision struck down a Texas law on constitutional grounds. So if much of the rest of the Bill of Rights applies to state governments - a concept called "incorporation" - why not the Second Amendment as well? ... http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/24/taking_liberties/entry5338307.shtml --- The Beat Goes On: Patrick Jones has trouble keeping ammunition supplies on the shelves these days. "Everything is hard to get, especially certain calibers," said Jones, owner of Action Pawn in Killen. Ammunition continues to be in high demand, some 10 months after President Obama's election and eight months into his term. Jones said .380- and .32-calibers are especially difficult to find. The Obama administration has not proposed anti-gun legislation, but a fear of such action remains among many gun enthusiasts. "That's what I'm hearing people worry about, that the president will cut the supply off," Jones said. "They're afraid it will be taxed more. A lot say they are getting it for personal protection... I'm lucky to be able to get some types," said Lee Smith, owner of the Gunrunner in Florence. "Any revolver cartridges are hard to come by. It's never been like this before." Smith recalls sales increasing during the mid-90s, on the heels of the Brady Bill... http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090924/ARTICLES/909245029/1011/NEWS?Title=Regulation-fears-spur-gun-owners-to-increase-stock --- The Desired Effect: Cabela's recently circulated a letter stating that if Governor Schwarzenegger doesn't veto pending legislation in California, Cabela's will no longer sell ammunition to California customers. Cabela's has no retail outlets in California. California Assembly Bill 962, which Schwarzenegger must veto by October 11, states that ammunition can only be sold "in a face-to-face transaction." Cabella's has been shipping to California customers via remote transactions (internet, phone, etc.) A source at Cabela's declined to say how much ammunition normally ships to California, but said they have "many good customers" there. The only good news is that this ammunition will be redirected to states which still recognize that the Second Amendment is about functioning firearms: guns with ammunition. So there may be some easing of the persistent shortage elsewhere... AB 962 won't stop drug gangs-which have established, successful smuggling conduits into the state - from simply adding ammunition to their shopping lists. The United Kingdom, surrounded by ocean, has seen an increase in "gun crime" since enacting a nearly-total gun ban in 1997. It's hard to see how California can secure its borders better than the UK... (AB 962 will not only terminate ammunition purchases by Californiana from Cabela's but from all mail-order sources.) http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d24-Cabelas-No-more-ammunition-for-California The California Association of Firearms Retailers (CAFR) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) - the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry - are urging Gov. Schwarzenegger to veto three anti-gun bills in the state. The governor will have until October 11 to veto the bills: ammunition registration (AB 962), regulations that duplicate existing requirements under federal law governing the sale of firearms (SB 41), and prohibitions on the lawful sale of firearms and ammunition at the Cow Palace exhibition center (SB 585)... AB 962 would require that firearms dealers and other vendors of ammunition keep a registry of all buyers of handgun ammunition. The bill would also ban all mail order and Internet sales of handgun ammunition and reloading components. SB 41 would further burden firearms retailers by requiring additional paperwork and documentation on the date of delivery of all firearms to a buyer... SB 585 would prohibit the lawful sale of firearms and ammunition at the Cow Palace exhibition facility near San Francisco, located in Agricultural District 1-A, and would make a violation of that prohibition a crime. Its purpose is to ban gun shows at the Cow Palace and to set a precedent for the banning of all gun shows at other state-owned facilities where many sportsmen buy firearms and ammunition. In California all firearms bought and sold at gun shows must be transferred through a federally licensed firearms retailer who is required under federal and state law to run a background check on the prospective buyer. http://www.gunreports.com/news/news/CAFR-NSSF-California-Gun-Laws-AB-962-SB-41-SB-585_1541-1.html?ET=gunreports:e531:183810a:&st=email Related Commentary: http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d24-Will-Gov-Schwarzenegger-sign-ammo-control-bill --- More Infringements, More Crime: The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence publishes an annual scorecard, rating states on their gun control laws (e.g., one handgun purchase per month, ballistic fingerprinting, requiring a permit to purchase a gun, no concealed carry law, workplace ban). A previous article noted that as Brady 2007 scores increased, so did violent crime. Depending on which side of this issue you stand, the news has only gotten worse... Brady tends to ignore Washington, D.C., which consistently has the highest violent crime rate in the country. (It's included here because it has a larger population than Wyoming, and enough autonomy to enact its own gun control laws, like any state.) This is curious, because Brady always promotes D.C. gun control laws. For example, Brady filed a brief supporting continuation of the D.C. gun ban during the Heller case. Brady's scorecard contains detailed criteria for determining a state's score: Washington, D.C. would have scored around 95, higher than any state, due to the fact that it has the strictest gun laws in the country. For example, D.C. has mandatory reporting of stolen guns, and requires ballistic fingerprinting when registering a gun. In 2008, this closest representative of Brady's gun control Utopia had 3.2 times the violent crime rate and 5.9 times the murder rate than that for the rest of the country... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d24-Brady-Campaign-2008-state-scorecard-Higher-score-more-crime --- Cleveland's Crime Rate Continues to Drop: The overall crime rate continues its four year decline in Cleveland despite the City's efforts to overturn state gun laws and once again take gun rights away from residents. While criminal on criminal violence still continues to be a problem (mostly gang and drug related), the average citizen has become increasingly safer in the city over the last four years, which roughly coincides with efforts at the state level to expand concealed carry and gun rights in general. As citizens become increasingly able to protect themselves and thwart the efforts of criminals, those criminals have shifted their focus to property crimes such as burglary and theft. Meanwhile, Cleveland continues in its lawsuit against the state of Ohio (opposed by the National Rifle Association and Ohioans For Concealed Carry) attempting to circumvent statewide preemption of gun laws so that it may once again impose stringent restrictions upon gun ownership... http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d24-Crime-rate-drops-while-Cleveland-tries-to-kill-golden-goose --- Twisted Logic: New laws granting employees the right to keep guns in their vehicles at work raises the risk of every company's worst nightmare - an active shooter at work. Find out what you need to know - and what you need to do - about these new laws in just 90 minutes as our expert faculty examines Guns at Work: Planning for an Active Shooter & Adapting to New Workplace Weapons Laws. In light of today's heightened threat of a rampage shooter, this program will provide critical information about the steps all companies must take to reduce the threat, improve response, and provide effective emergency notification. Now that more than 30 states have concealed carry laws on their books, the burden is on employers to be proactive if they wish to lawfully restrict guns on their premises. At the same time, some state laws include privacy stipulations, making it illegal to even ask employees - or customers or invitees to the company, who also are covered - whether they have firearms in their cars... (If people who wish to commit murders are not constrained by laws against murder, why would they be constrained by laws and company policies regarding bringing firearms to work?) http://www.ioma.com/webinars/1299.html --- What's the Point?: Last February I explained how, counter intuitively, the DC City Council's 2008 action to repeal the DC Police Chief's power to issue handgun carry permits made it possible for DC residents to apply by mail for handgun carry permits from Pennsylvania Sheriffs. Such applications can be made by filling out a simple form, no fingerprints, social security numbers, or training required. And these permits are accepted by many states too. But while applying for gun carry permits is now easy for DC residents, DC's onerous gun registration laws makes it hard to acquire a gun. If you don't believe me, read Christian Davenport's recent article in the Washington Post about his gun acquisition odyssey as a DC resident... So for entrepreneurial and mobile DC residents, many of whom already maintain a residence in another state, or easily could do so, buying a gun without jumping through a bunch of hoops is really not that hard. What remains difficult however, at least until Congress repeals DC's onerous gun registration scheme, is legally bringing that gun to your DC home (or the Big Apple, if that is where you hang your hat). (As I recall, Dick Heller already owned at least one handgun, stored outside DC, and his plea to the court was to let him register it so that he could bring it into the District.) http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d24-How-DC-residents-can-buy-guns-without-registration --- Utah Could Tighten CFP Requirements: Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday that he is open to tightening up Utah's concealed weapons permits to potentially give the state more oversight of those who receive a state permit to pack a gun. "I think we need to protect the Second Amendment, that's for sure, and Utah should stand tall in that regard," Herbert said during his monthly KUED news conference. "That said, I don't want to be a wholesale clearinghouse for anyone who comes to Utah who we don't have the ability to track ... and then they go outside our borders and conduct themselves inappropriately." So far this year, the Bureau of Criminal Identification has received more than 57,000 applications for concealed weapons permits, and is on pace for a roughly five-fold increase from 2006. And, for the first time, the state issued more permits to out-of-state residents than to Utahns in the last budget year. Utah's concealed weapons permit is honored in 33 states, although Nevada recently stopped recognizing Utah's permit because Utah does not require a live-fire test in order to receive a permit... http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13414251 --- Park-Carry Stance Affects Tennessee Gubernatorial Race: Bill Haslam's rivals for Tennessee's Republican gubernatorial nomination are finding ammunition in the Knoxville mayor's position on guns. Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga, both vocal supporters of gun rights, are targeting Haslam's support for a Knoxville City Council vote earlier this week that keeps in place a ban on handguns in city parks, playgrounds and sports fields. "Once again Mayor Haslam comes down on the wrong side of our Second Amendment rights guaranteed in the Constitution," Wamp said in a statement. The state Legislature this year passed a law that allows handgun carry permit holders to bring their weapons into city and county parks. But the law gives local governments the power to opt out. About 70 cities and counties have decided against allowing people with permits to go armed in local parks... http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/sep/24/092409webgunreax/ --- Oops, Wrong House: A Lexington [KY] man is behind bars after police say he tried to break into the wrong home overnight. A man says he was taking a shower early this morning at his home on West Fourth Street, when he heard something just outside his house. He told police he went around to check it out, and saw a man trying to break in through a window. That's when the homeowner grabbed a gun and held the would-be burglar at gunpoint, while he called 9-1-1. Police later caught up with and arrested Donovan Campbell. He's now in jail, charged with burglary. That homeowner runs a business out of his home, and he says he was tired of being broken into, so he decided to put a stop to it. http://www.wtvq.com/news/273-would-be-burglar-stopped-by-homeowner.html# Meanwhile, in Tennessee...: A woman in Mount Juliet got a scare this week when a man broke into her home while she was in the shower. The intruder quickly ran out, but the woman grabbed her gun and shot at his car. Police arrested Franklin Fish a short time later. The woman identified him as the burglar. Detectives believe Fish is wanted for several other home break-ins. (The use of deadly force in this situation seems questionable.) http://www.wsmv.com/news/21107209/detail.html --- Rule Five Reminder: The accidental shooting death of a 2-year-old girl in Vacaville [CA] serves as a reminder to parents of the importance of gun safety. The National Rifle Association set out guidelines for parents in order to educate their kids about guns. But Lincoln Rifle Club President Leonard Zick said it's not just the children who need that education. "If you don't have the working understanding of firearms, just the fact that you have a firearm in your house is not a smart thing," Zick said. Lincoln Rifle Club member Martin King said he's owned guns practically his whole life. "My dad used to let me put a gun on my bike and ride out to the country and shoot it," King said. But firearm safety is paramount, he said. In addition to keeping his guns locked in a safe, King also taught his children about gun safety from a very early age. "Small children should be taught if there's a gun in the house they should be taught, that it's not a toy," King said. (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm. This does not mean that all firearms must be locked in safes but, if a firearm is kept loaded for defensive purposes, it is best kept on the person of a responsible adult.) http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=67561 --- Some Thoughts on Self-Defense: ...The primary uses of firearms are recreation and self-defense. Relatively few people have any issues with firearms used for the recreational purposes of target shooting and hunting. More people seem to have issues with firearms used for self-defense. Every living thing on this planet is born with a natural right to defend itself. Every bug, every cat or dog, and every human being. Some people doubt this, at first. To those I ask, "Do you own your body? Or do the police?" (...pause for reflection...) "If you own your body, are you not responsible for its well-being and protection?" Ultimately your self-defense is up to you, not your local police. You are going to be the first person on the scene of a crime directed at you or someone close by; not the police. In a case of violent crime committed against you, the police are for cordoning off the crime scene with yellow plastic tape, after the fact... http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/19859 --- Interesting Observation: The issue of the best SHTF gun has been worked top to bottom, bottom to top and side to side and back again, it is nothing new. Some will say a .22 rifle or shotgun, others will suggest an AR-15 or some other center-fire magazine fed rifle and a few will tell you a bolt action is the most logical choice. While they aren't wrong - at least under certain circumstances, they fail to see the big picture or fail to realize what really happens after a collapse. It would seem many survivalists have been influenced by Hollywood or writers of fiction and can't separate reality from illusion. Leave make-believe to armchair commandos and teenage boys... In a recent study it was found that 90% of police and civilian self-defense shooting occurred at ranges of less than 15 feet. With 34% being from contact to 3 feet. I can't find one justifiable civilian self-defense shooting taking place at 100 yards or beyond - if you know of a documented case please let us know. Like any firearm, handguns are encumbered by a number of limitations; namely low power and limited range compared to a rifle or shotgun - but a handgun can be there when you need it and that is most important... (I am reminded of an article by the late Skeeter Skelton in which he argued that if could only keep one firearm it would likely be a S&W K-22, a six-inch .22-caliber revolver. While a .22 is not optimal for self-defense, in a survival mode, one is much more likely to find small game, such as rabbits and squirrels, than large game, such as deer and elk.) http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/2009/09/best-shtf-gun.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .