Oh, Please...: Okay, I've already seen, multiple times, the latest "RKBA" e-mail making the rounds, about an alleged proposal in Vermont to tax those who don't own firearms. Here is my response, so you won't need to keep forwarding it to me: Tempting as this may seem to beleaguered gun owners, this does not make sense. Taxation as a means to social engineering is inappropriate no matter which side seeks to impose it. Those who have read Stephen Halbrook's The Founders' Second Amendment may recall the debates in several of the original thirteen states regarding constitutional provisions for militia and the RKBA. Some states offered exemption from militia service to those who had religious objections (e.g., Quakers). At times compromises were proposed to allow the conscientious objectors to pay a substitute to serve (an alternative to conscription into the Union army during the War between the States, regardless of conscience). This was rejected because the payment would have been equally abhorrent to the objectors. Additionally, a system which intentionally creates a government registry of non-gun-owners eventually also serves to identify all who have not been added to that registry. Let's make sure we think before we act. --- Here We Go Again: With the H1N1 "swine" flu season moving into full swing, and with AIDS/HIV and other deadly diseases continuing to plague millions of Americans, one might think that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), would have its hands full. After all, the CDC "serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, ... to improve the health of the people of the United States." You might be inclined to think that with all that's happening here and around the world posing very real and very serious health risks to the American citizenry, the CDC would have sense enough not to squander its resources on matters wholly unrelated to health and infectious diseases. If you made such a presumption, you'd be flat wrong. The CDC, like many if not all federal bureaucracies, seems always to be searching for new projects and agendas in which to involve itself. One "problem" on which the CDC has now focussed its attention, is gun control. That's right. The Centers for Disease Control is interjecting itself into the debate over control of firearms in the United States... http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/10/30/cdc-and-guns-here-it-goes-again/?cxntfid=blogs_bob_barr_blog --- From Psychiatric Times: ...Psychiatrists may have a role in the process by which their patients apply for permission to purchase, possess, or transfer a handgun, as well as in the appeals process for those with mental illness and/or alcohol or drug abuse. There is variability in the appeals process, and some states may require a 5-year period of stability before considering the application. Some states use the concepts of the remission and stabilization of mental illness or substance abuse in their statutes and impose more clinically based expectations on the clinical documentation needed; others ask for an opinion regarding "cure" of illnesses. The legal standard of "cure" is used in some state statutes and is inconsistent with the relapsing and remitting course of many psychiatric disorders. The issue of an attestation of the patient's "cure," may impose potential legal liability for a patient's future acts. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1482320?verify=0 --- More on Prohibited Possessors: On Wednesday, we talked about a person prohibited from owning guns. Yesterday, we looked at the legally-defined classifications of "prohibited persons". Many self-described "law and order conservatives" who support the prohibition, but who also profess to believe in the Second Amendment, would do well to realize that running afoul of a "gun law" can result in felon status, particularly in locales that prohibit bearing arms - even if a threat exists. Do they really want to be "judged by 12" for that, or are they just certain they will never have that decision forced upon them? I have some questions for discussion... Is public safety enhanced by banning someone like, say, Martha Stewart from owing a gun for the rest of her life? How? ... If someone is enough of a danger to himself and others to be institutionalized, why would that person be released if they remain a danger? ...Could an "Oath Keeper" be dishonorably discharged for refusing to obey an unconstitutional order? ...Are restraining orders ever issued because a vengeful "ex" wants to do as much damage as possible, or because some greedy lawyer considers it a smart tactical move? What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? ... http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m10d30-Does-denying-guns-to-prohibited-persons-ensure-public-safety --- Is CCW Licensing Part of "Gun Control"?: ...Gun control is generally defined as laws limiting the civilian ownership of firearms. For example, the 1994 "assault weapons" ban removed certain self-feeding semi-automatic rifles from civilian sales. Some of these rifles looked like true military rifles, except that since 1934, fully-automatic assault rifles - used by military - have effectively been banned from civilian purchase. Since these laws restricted civilian ownership of certain firearms, they are gun control laws... RTC laws enable an unlicensed gun owner to carry a concealed, unregistered handgun in public, with certain restrictions such as police stations and court rooms. There are those who believe the licensing requirement is an affront to the Second Amendment, and therefore is a gun control law as you state. But this law is NOT part of the gun control platform, as proven by the vehemence with which gun control organizations derogate RTC laws. (RTC states consistently are rated the lowest by Brady.) ... (Yes, we should educate those who disagree with or question us. "Right To Carry" is an NRA misnomer. If one is not licensed to own the gun, but must be licensed to carry it, is not one a licensed gun owner? Could not the rosters of permittees be used to initiate a campaign of confiscation? I know that Nevada law has changed somewhat but I was required by Clark County NV not only to register the two revolvers I intended to carry concealed but to shoot separate "qualifications," in 2001, with each of the, with serial numbers noted by my instructor, even though they are identical models. Nevada is listed by the NRA as an "RTC" state. Oh, yes, police are also civilians unless they are functioning as part of the military.) http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m10d29-Are-concealed-carry-laws-part-of-the-gun-control-formula --- National Implications for Seattle Lawsuit?: The outcome of a long-awaited lawsuit filed Oct. 28 against the City of Seattle and Mayor Greg Nickels to overturn the city's illegal gun ban could have national implications because several other states have modeled their firearms preemption laws after the Washington State statute that is at the center of the Seattle case... So how does this case have possible national implications? If Seattle's creative approach as a private property owner simply regulating conduct on its park properties is allowed to stand (that strategy failed in Ohio, where a parks ban imposed by the City of Clyde was struck down by that state's Supreme Court), it is conceivable that other cities in other states, or even in the Evergreen State, will start pushing the envelope. I wrote about the Clyde case in this column... http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m10d29-Seattle-gun-ban-lawsuit-could-have-national-implications --- West Virginia Expands Reciprocity: Two more states are being added to the list of places where West Virginians with a valid permit can legally carry a concealed handgun. Managing Deputy Attorney General Tom Smith said state officials just completed a written agreement with North Dakota to recognize West Virginia concealed weapons permits, and paperwork is in the mail to finalize an agreement with Delaware. "It should be back any day now," Smith said Wednesday... Once the deal with Delaware is final, West Virginians with valid concealed weapons permits will be able to legally carry a hidden gun in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia under written agreements between West Virginia and those states. Smith said Indiana, Montana and Vermont automatically recognize West Virginia concealed weapons permits without the need for a written reciprocity agreement, and Idaho and Kansas appear to recognize West Virginia's permits. "If you're going to Idaho or Kansas, call them to get a local answer," he said... (According the http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/westvirginia.pdf, generally a reliable source, the latter two states also honor the West Virginia permit.) http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200910280801 --- Oops, Wrong House: Ferndale [MI] police said a 72-year-old man with an amputated leg shot at an intruder who was in his house early Thursday morning. Police said the victim hear was woken up by noise inside his home at about 3:40 a.m. The victim grabbed a .357 revolver and shot at the intruder when he came to his bedroom door, police said. Police said the victim missed the man, who he identified as a man from the neighborhood. John Robert Cole, 56, was arrested at a nearby 7-Eleven store, and officers found the victim's wallet in his pocket... (Note how news reports always mention a ".357 revolver" without clarifying whether it was used to fire .357 Magnum or .38 Special cartridges. Food for thought, if you prefer the .38 round for home defense and own revolvers in both chamberings.) http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21465325/detail.html --- Oops, Wrong Mom: A Clayton man charged in the assault of a Dover woman was scared off after the victim's teenage son fired a shotgun into the air in an attempt to stop the attack, Dover [DE] police said today... The incident began Tuesday at about 7 p.m. in the first block of Forest Creek Drive in Dover when Stanislow and the woman got into an argument at her home, said Dover police spokesman Lt. Steve Getek. During the argument, Stanislow allegedly pushed the woman off a set of steps and began to assault her, he said. One of the victim's teenage sons attempted to intervene, and Stanislow allegedly began to assault the son, Getek said. When the woman attempted to intervene, he continued assaulting her, he said. At this point, another teenage son exited the home and fired a single shot from a shotgun into the air in an attempt to stop the attack, he said. Stanislow fled the area and turned himself in to police at about 8:20 p.m. (I generally counsel against warning shots. Assuming that the shotgun was loaded with birdshot, at least the hazards from the falling pellets are less than those from bullets.) http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091028/NEWS01/91028011/Police++Dover+teen+fires+gun+to+stop+assault+on+mother --- Trolling for Muggers: A group of University Of Washington students are being called vigilantes after they armed themselves with handguns and tried to set up patrols on University Avenue and other areas around campus where students have been attacked over the past year. Stanley Luong and Luis Garcia have armed themselves. Both are assault victims. Luong says, "Some guy just broke down the window, reached in and unlocked the door and came in and robbed us." Garcia says, "Four men jumped out of a car. They assaulted me and threw my girlfriend to the ground and they attempted to rob me. Two times I've been jumped. I said it's not going to happen a third time." So both got a concealed license permit [sic] and bought handguns. Now they walk with pistols in their pockets...looking for the bad guys. Luong says, "I don't know if it's illegal to walk around and be bait. I'm kind of fishing for robbers." ... (I'd hate to have to defend myself in court after having made some of the on-camera statements in the video. Stuffing a Glock pistol into a waistband without the benefit of a holster to cover the trigger area is not the best way for a man to ensure his ability to father children.) http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-102709-campusvigilante,0,7328624.story --- NYPD Pulls Mossberg Shotguns: The NYPD's entire fleet of Highway Patrol officers was pulled from their posts and rushed to a Bronx firing range yesterday because of a malfunction discovered with their shotguns, sources said. The snafu was discovered during a training session at the Rodman's Neck range when NYPD weapon experts found "intermittent" problems with the firing pin that prevented the gun from discharging. All 75 Mossberg 590A1 shotguns had to be turned in for the older Ithaca 37s. Officers then had to be recertified to use those guns before they could return to their posts. Precinct squad cars were sent in shifts to make up for their absence, though the NYPD insisted there was no lapse in patrols. (The Ithaca 37 established a firm reputation as a "Timex" [takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'] in American law enforcement.) http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/shoot_cop_guns_don_work_1aynri0kjgmLOShIoAcpZM --- British Troops - 5.56mm Inadequate in Afghanistan: A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers 'tailed off' after 300 metres yet half of all Helmand firefights are fought between 300 and 900 metres... The study, co-written by Nicholas Drummond, a strategy consultant and ex-Welsh Guards officer, described British soldiers' rifles as "not much more useful than a peashooter". Taliban marksmen use powerful 7.62mm ammo for their AK47 machine guns, according to a report of the study in The Sun. Mr Drummond told the newspaper that a British soldier couldn't attack the Taliban "with any certainty that if he hits the enemy he will kill or incapacitate him." The study claims the ammunition is easily stopped by car doors. It added that Javelin anti-tank missiles, costing £100,000 each, are often fired at lone gunmen. Only one in four British, US and German troops has been issued with guns using 7.62mm ammunition. The report calls for guns that take larger ammunition to replace all standard-issue SA80 rifles, which many believe were exposed as inadequate in Iraq in 2003. The Ministry of Defence told the newspaper the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by United States and other Nato allies are "proven to be both accurate and powerful." (On Sunday I will share John Farnam's comments on this issue.) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/6451003/Bullets-used-by-British-soldiers-too-small-to-defeat-Taliban.html --- A Different Type of Training Tragedy: A former Army sergeant wounded during a military training exercise was awarded $850,000 in his lawsuit against the Moore County [NC] Sheriff's Office and the former deputy who shot him. A federal jury in Greensboro awarded the money to former Army Sgt. Stephen Phelps, who was injured in the February 2002 shooting that killed another soldier. He had sued the sheriff's office and former Deputy Randall Butler... Phelps and 1st Lt. Tallas Tomeny had been taking part in Robin Sage, an exercise that trains soldiers for Special Forces. Tomeny was killed, and his estate settled out of court. During Robin Sage, soldiers simulate infiltration of a foreign nation. Phelps and Charles Leiber, a civilian who was playing the role of an adviser, testified that they thought Butler stopping their vehicle was part of the exercise. Butler had argued that the men were acting suspiciously in an area that had experienced a lot burglaries. Butler also said he saw two machine guns and that Tomeny had told Phelps to kill him. Phelps said Butler overreacted... (The military has its reasons for training special operators the way it does but there are risks from interacting with armed police who may not have been briefed about the training.) http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/6296724/ --- Rescuer in Afghanistan a Former Hippie: For two hours, a civilian contractor held off Taliban commandos with an AK-47, saving the lives of 24 people in a Kabul, Afghanistan, guest house. But while others are praising Chris Turner's courage, the 62-year-old former hippie refuses to be called a hero. "The real heroes were the three U.N. guards and the Afghan guards who lost their lives defending all of us," Turner told TODAY's Meredith Vieira Thursday from Kabul... The bearded American repeatedly rejected efforts to label his actions as extraordinary. The reason he was the one holding off the commandos was because he happened to be the one who had a gun, he said. "I was the only one in the back of the building who was armed. I was just praying that I could keep them at bay so that we could protect the women and men who were unarmed and unprepared for this kind of violence," he said. Turner first came to Afghanistan in the 1960s because that's where the hashish was. He kept coming back because he came to love the country and its people. He even shot a documentary film there that he titled "Hashistan." His current job is working for an Afghan-American trucking company that delivers supplies to U.S. troops, work that he considers vital... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33530872/ns/today-today_people/ --- Attention, Arizona Hunters and Anglers: The term of Chairman Bob Hernbrode of the Arizona Game & Fish Commission is slated to expire at the end of this year and Governor Jan Brewer (R) needs to fill the vacancy by either re-appointing Commissioner Hernbrode to a second term or by appointing a replacement. The Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife is hosting a forum for Game & Fish Commission applicants next Tuesday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Precision Shooting Equipment (PSE) plant at 2727 N. Fairview in Tucson. Candidates will have the opportunity to introduce themselves and respond to some previously provided questions. Time permitting, candidates may have the opportunity to respond to questions from attendees. Upon arriving all attendees will be given a ballot. At the conclusion of the forum, the attendees will be asked to submit their ballots listing their first, second and third choices for commissioner. Ballots will be kept secret and the results used only as a recommendation to the Governor by the Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife. The forum is open to all hunters and fishermen who are registered to vote in Arizona. Please note: proof of voter registration will be required... http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?id=5189 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .