Es para México: The former head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection called Monday for the U.S. to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons and take other measures to rein in the war between Mexico and its drug cartels, saying the violence has the potential to bring down legitimate rule in that country. Former CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner also called for the United States to more aggressively investigate U.S. gun sellers and tighten security along its side of the border, describing the situation as "critical" to the safety of people in both countries, whether they live near the border or not. Mexico, for its part, needs to reduce official corruption and organize its forces along the lines the U.S. does, such as a specialized border patrol and a customs agency with a broader mandate than monitoring trade, Mr. Bonner said in an exchange of e-mails... The federal assault weapons ban was passed on Sept. 13, 1994, during the Clinton administration and prohibited the sale to civilians of certain semi-automatic firearms, so-called assault weapons. The law expired on Sept. 13, 2004, and an effort by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, to extend it for another 10 years was defeated 80-9. At least three other efforts to pass new legislation banning the weapons have not been successful. In February, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. said the ban should be reinstated, but Mr. Obama has since said he would not push its reinstatement even though it "made sense." (Mr. Bonner has not addressed the issue of American firearms being supplied to the Mexican military, whose armories seem to be very porous to the Mexican drug cartels.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/17/weapons-ban-urged-to-rein-in-mexican-drug-war/ The lie-detector team brought in by Mexico's top cop was supposed to help clean up the country's long-troubled police. There was just one problem: Most of its members themselves didn't pass, and a supervisor was rigging results to make sure others did. When public safety chief Genaro Garcia Luna found out, he canned the team, all 50 to 60 members. "He fired everybody," a senior U.S. law enforcement official said. But the episode shows how difficult it will be for Mexico to reverse a legacy of police corruption that has tainted whole departments, shattered people's faith in law enforcement and compromised one of society's most basic institutions... But Mexico has a habit of trading in one corrupt police agency for another, and it will be a long, uphill struggle to create a law enforcement system that can confront crime and gain the trust of ordinary Mexicans. Until then, crooked cops undermine efforts to strengthen the rule of law and defeat drug cartels... The U.S. government supports the push to expand and professionalize Mexico's federal forces, lending dozens of police instructors as part of a $1.4-billion aid package for Mexico known as the Merida Initiative... "You can train police all day long, but if they're still corrupt, then it doesn't really help," said Daniel Sabet, who teaches at Georgetown University and studies Mexican law enforcement. "The corruption and organized-crime infiltration has not changed." ... (My cynicism about eliminating corruption in Mexican law enforcement and her military forces derives from having spent the first fifteen years of my life in Mexico. I am certainly not inclined to surrender any of my rights as an American in exchange for a promise that doing so will solve any problem in Mexico.) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-police17-2009nov17,0,6698620,full.story --- SAF Files McDonald Brief: The Second Amendment Foundation today filed its much-anticipated brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case of McDonald v. Chicago, which challenges the constitutionality of that city's ban on handguns. SAF is joined in the lawsuit by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) and four individual plaintiffs. They are represented by attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued the landmark Heller case before the high court in 2008, leading to a ruling that the Second Amendment affirms and protects an individual right to keep and bear arms beyond the scope of serving in a militia. The McDonald case not only challenges the Chicago ban, but also brings up the question of application of the right to keep and bear arms to the states through the 14th Amendment. "Our filing today will help establish that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right of American citizenship no city official can violate," Gura said... http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saf-files-supreme-court-brief-in-chicago-gun-ban-challenge-70218707.html --- Veterans' RKBA Bill under Attack: A provision in a Senate bill quietly adopted in 2008 yet to reach a vote would allow veterans in the FBI's criminal background system listed as "mentally incapacitated" to purchase firearms. The provision is coming under fire in the wake of a mass shooting at Ft. Hood Army base earlier this month which killed 13. The new law would allow vets on the FBI list to buy weapons if they haven't been ruled ineligible by a judicial body. A press release issued by Republican North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr explained his reasoning for the measure in 2008 after it was adopted by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The measure is also supported by a key Democratic senator - Jim Webb of Virginia. "Currently, when the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) appoints a fiduciary to assist a veteran with managing their financial affairs, VA also deems the veteran mentally incompetent and reports him or her to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)," Burr's release wrote. "The Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act would require a judicial body to deem a veteran, surviving spouse, or child as a danger to himself or others before being listed in NICS, which would prohibit the veteran from being able to purchase certain firearms. The legislation is supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, and the Military Order of the Purple Heart..." http://rawstory.com/2009/11/gop-amendment-mentally-incapacitated-vets-buy-guns/ --- Can Bloomberg Maintain Front Group?: ... But not all is well in the ranks of Bloomberg's supporters. His anti-gun lobbying group, "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" (MAIG), is in a state of turmoil. That may explain why Bloomberg has had to provide more than 95 percent of the funding for his anti-gun crusades from his personal fortune. Bloomberg proudly cites the number of mayors in his group. But at least 25 members of his group are not mayors at all. Another five members have already lost their re-election campaigns or have retired. The superstitious might wonder if joining Bloomberg's group brings bad luck to its members. But read the rest of this column before you decide, because that's just the beginning. There's more. Much more. Nine members of the group-all of them actual mayors, at least for the moment-were arrested or indicted on criminal charges. These include the perennial misdeeds of corrupt politicians at the lowest levels of government-bribery, corruption and money laundering. The list of charges hanging over Bloomberg's members also includes conspiracy, tax fraud, possession of child pornography and sexual assault on a child. Criminal cases involving five other members of the Bloomberg corps have already been completed, with the mayors in question convicted of the charges against them. Again, we have the garden variety of government corruption-bribery, extortion and conspiracy. But we also see charges for assault and even assaulting a police officer... http://www.ammoland.com/2009/11/16/bloombergs-phantom-mayors-against-illegal-guns/ --- Turn the Tables on SPLC: Oregon Firearms Federation alerted its members about the Southern Poverty Law Center training Eugene police: "The Southern Poverty Law Center, which considers opposition to draconian gun control laws to be 'crackpot,' has sent one of their "experts" to Eugene to teach police from multiple agencies about 'Hate in America Today - a National Overview of Far Right Domestic Terrorism.' You will recall that in the brave new world of Obama, 'right wing terrorists' include gun owners, Constitutionalists, military veterans and supporters of limited government...." I have two challenges for Eugene Police Acting Lieutenant Doug Mozan, the apparent department apologist for inviting SPLC into the fold: 1. Make all handouts and training materials used in the SPLC presentation publicly available, and disclose what, if anything, was said about Oath Keepers. 2. Invite Sheriff Richard Mack to come train your personnel, to "enable them to spot" people you should be training them to emulate. http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d16-What-did-SPLC-teach-Oregon-police --- Pro-RKBA Talk-Show Host Fired in Seattle: If it were still in vogue to tar and feather people or ride them out of town on a rail, the management at Seattle's Fisher Broadcasting just might be running from a mob. The cause of this is last Thursday's (Nov. 12) unceremonious ouster of veteran conservative talk show host Kirby Wilbur after 16 years on the air, the last several of which have been in the morning slot, 5-9 a.m., where he dominated the local airwaves. The other day at a gun show in Puyallup, there was serious talk of a boycott of all advertisers on all Fisher stations, which would include KVI, KOMO radio and television, KUNS, KPLZ FM, KIMA in Yakima, and KATU in Portland... The management at KVI a couple of years ago arbitrarily cancelled an advertising contract it had for Wilbur's program with the Washington Arms Collectors, which conducts firearms safety courses in conjunction with its Puyallup gun shows. Those advertisements were designed to give the public an opportunity to take a real step toward "firearm safety," rather than the bogus "safety" pedaled by gun prohibitionist groups... At the same time, under then-new station manager Jim Clayton, advertising for local gun ranges such as Wade's in Bellevue and Champion Arms in Kent was also stopped. In a telephone chat, Wilbur recalled that he had conversations with Clayton that were heatedly anti-gun. Wilbur does not believe his dismissal was about ratings or money. Neither do a lot of other people... http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d16-Firearms-community-furious-over-ouster-of-progun-Seattle-talk-host-can-you-spell-BOYCOTT --- Another Look at Armed Pilots: ... The FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) program was implemented by the Bush Administration working with law enforcement, airline management and pilot unions. Pilots with guns were a way to augment the Federal Air Marshall Service which was already in place and quickly expanded. Recent rumors indicate that the Obama administration will attempt to de-fund the FFDO program. I think it would be a huge loss to security and a big mistake. With regards to an aircraft accident, there are multiple layers of protection to prevent a crash. Most of the layers formulated from previous incidents, utilizing Air Traffic Control, dispatch, mechanics and redundant aircraft systems along with two highly trained pilots. The same logic in preventing a crash is to be used for arming pilots in flight. We must learn from the current terrorist strategy and implement solutions. A final layer of security is absolutely necessary to prevent another tragedy like 9/11... http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34430 --- Michigan Open Carry: Melvindale man, who openly carried a gun into Fairlane Mall in Dearborn while shopping for socks, was stopped at gunpoint by police after leaving a parking space. An Ohio man was ordered at gunpoint to lie on the ground in July after someone called 911 to report that he was walking down the street with a handgun, which was holstered. One of the responding officers told him, "You cannot just walk down the street with a weapon." The Constitution says otherwise. "If one chooses to carry a weapon in Michigan, one can do so without a license," Brian Jeffs, president of Michigan Open Carry Inc., said. "There's no law that says it's illegal." Livingston County Prosecutor David Morse agreed, saying, "You're granted the right through the Constitution." ... (The RKBA is protected in the federal constitution and those of most states; it is not granted. The right to self-defense, including the right to use arms in its exercise is presumed to be a natural right, granted by Nature or Nature's God.) http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20091117/NEWS01/911170308 --- The Open Carry Debate Summarized or Resolved?: ...On the infighting between pro gun people on the topic I think, for the most part, it was a misunderstanding. If you read the words very literally (it's difficult for me to do otherwise but I'm not normal in a lot of ways) I don't find much disagreement in philosophy between the various camps. One side says it is legal, in most cases, as it should be but it's easy to do something stupid which will make us all look bad and distract from more important matters. Another side says we need to use it or lose it but don't be a dick about it. About the biggest real difference of opinion was that some said gun retention training might be a moral obligation and others said no it's not... http://blog.joehuffman.org/Trackback.aspx?guid=76b9f20f-2c75-4739-85a8-2af9dca055b8 --- Florida Adoptive Parents Object to Gun Question: Get set for a mountain of paperwork if you want to adopt a child. You'll have to go through a rigorous screening process. It's aimed at giving kids the best parents possible. Florida's gun rights advocates say it's gotten way too personal. Ron And Fran Fahs went through stacks of paperwork and hours of interviews to make this a complete picture. One of the questions many parents have to answer: Do you own a gun? The Fahs aren't necessarily gun supporters, but they do think the question goes too far. "Let's just stay with responsible parenting and issues that are involved in that, and not get down to specifics like, 'do you have sharp nails in the house', or, you know, "are your knives all put up above children's reach," the Fahs said. The issue's got the adoption agencies staring down the barrel of a powerful political weapon, the National Rifle Association... http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/11/16/adoptive_parents_fuming_over_gun_question.html --- Oops, Wrong Game Room: A game room manager in west Houston shot and killed a man who tried to rob him. Police say the man came into the D and A game room on Westheimer at noon Monday, pulled a gun and demanded money from the manager. As the man was leaving, the manager pulled out a gun and shot him. He later died at a hospital. No one else was hurt. Police tell us the manager will not face any charges. (I assume that a game room in Texas is a club where people play games such as poker.) http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7121986 http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2009m11d16-Houston-TX-store-manager-shoots-armed-robber-in-self-defense --- Where Did He Get That Statistic?: ...Patricia waited an entire year before she decided to buy a gun. "It's a sigsauer [sic] P229. It's a semi-automatic. It holds 12 rounds and you can chamber one and have lucky 13," she said as she displayed the gun. Fallon took a safety course and practices every month. Very good advice says her instructor. "If you're not willing to use the weapon statistics bear out that the weapon will be taken and used against you," says Dennis Root, a longtime firearms instructor and self-defense teacher. "They're looking for the victim...you have to decide you're not going to be the victim." ... (I have been using the internet to monitor firearm-related news for nearly 13 years and have found only three or four cases of private citizens being disarmed by criminals; I believe the firearm was only turned against the citizen in one case. It used to be that 20 to 25% of police officers who got shot were shot with their own handguns but I believe that security holsters and enhanced training have greatly reduced that figure, On the other hand, I share several reports a year in which victims turn assailants' guns against them. I surely hope that the NRA is not teaching this bogus "statistic" to instructors of its Personal Protection Course.) http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Some-Women-Turning-To-Guns-For-Peace-Of-Mind/VMB_F67mikCjtQzBxQ0_Yg.cspx --- Good Press for Arizona Machine-Gun Shoot: ... Every tent contained at least one or more machine guns plus automatic rifles and sub-machine guns. Near the end of "tent row" was a Gatling Gun, then a Civil War cannon on a wooden carriage. At the very end of this armaments display were a few bowling balls waiting to be fired from a mortar, the tube made from an oxygen cylinder with the bottom cut away... In conclusion, I've never encountered a more friendly, hospitable group of people. Several offered to share their tent with us, so we accepted one offer. We left the shoot a while later, but won't soon forget the kindness demonstrated by all those people at the Big Sandy Shoot. The next big shoot is in March. (Arizona is generally a gun-friendly state but Flagstaff, home to The Arizona Daily Sun, is one of the most left-leaning cities in the state.) http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/11/17/news/sports/20091117_sport_207643.txt --- Hasan's Range Preparations Come to Light: ...Employees at the shooting range where Hasan practiced just two days before the massacre told investigators that Hasan purchased ten separate targets and fired more than 200 rounds with his newly purchased semi-automatic pistol. After buying the gun in August from a Killeen store called Guns Galore, Hasan later returned to purchase 13 separate ammunition magazines capable of holding up to 30 bullets each. Store employees told investigators that they became suspicious of Hasan's purchase of so many extra ammunition magazines. The employees said Hasan claimed he needed the extra magazines so he would not have to reload when he fired at the practice range. (Hasan is reported to have held a Virginia CHP prior to being assigned to Fort Hood and had a .357 Magnum revolver with him during his attack on troops there. This prompts me to question whether he may have selected the FN Five-seveN pistol due to its combination of perceived high power with low recoil.) http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/officials-major-hasan-sought-war-crimes-prosecution-us/story?id=9019904 --- FN Unveils "Black Box" for Firearms: ... The new gadget could possibly record details such as where shots were fired and the intended target, and even indirectly finger the identity of the weapon user by using GPS and the weapon's identification number. That would allow individual soldiers to know how many shots they had fired without checking their magazines or ammo if hooked up to a Land Warrior system, and commanders could see if their troops are in danger of running low on ammo. Manufacturers could also know when a weapon might require maintenance, or if a particular gun had troubles such as jamming. A black box device might also tip off higher-ups regarding the details of when and where weapons were fired, which could prove useful in follow-up investigations involving accidents or possible misbehavior. It could also inform after-action reports to help determine how to better improve soldier performance... http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-11/weapons-manufacturer-unveils-black-box-guns --- NYPD SOP-9 Report: New York City police officers fired their weapons about 16 percent less last year than in the previous year, according to a Police Department report released on Monday... Of the report released Monday, John C. Cerar, a retired deputy inspector who was the commander of the Police Department's firearms training section, said that, "In totality, it shows that when we see the decreases in crime, we see decreases in the police use of deadly physical force." ...Last year, 125 New York City police officers fired their weapons, compared with 148 officers in 2007, according to the report. Officers also fired fewer bullets last year - a total of 354 compared with 588 in 2007, the report said. And the number of situations that led officers to fire their weapons also declined, to what the Police Department characterized as the smallest number of police shootings since formal records of such events were first kept, in 1971... (The SOP-9 reports for 1996 to 2006 are posted at http://www.nyclu.org/node/1756.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/nyregion/17nyclu.html?ref=nyregion --- Britain Takes Note: Smith & Wesson, the famed American gunmaker once owned by Tomkins, the British conglomerate, expects to nearly double its annual sales in the next three to five years as demand for its firearms soars in the recession. It is not alone. All over America demand for firearms and ammunition is rising amid concerns that rising unemployment, which passed 10 per cent this month, will lead inexorably to higher rates of crime. Fears of terrorism have also helped to lift demand, as have concerns among gun owners that the Obama Administration may introduce restrictions on gun ownership and impose additional taxes... At Sturm and Ruger, sales for the third quarter hit $71.2 million, up 70 per cent from the same period last year. At Glock, the leader in law enforcement markets, pistol sales rose by 71 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year for 2010, in comparison with the same period last year... Randy Williams, industry editor at Hoover, the research firm, agreed. "As an example of the personal safety and terrorism aspect, Smith & Wesson's hunting rifle sales in 2009 dropped about 33 per cent at a time when the company's other gun sales - revolvers, pistols, Walther imports, and tactical rifles - grew 33 per cent," he said. Even though some experts believe that the gun bubble may be about to burst, with a slowdown in the rate of sales growth, such a view is not shared across the industry. At the Freedom Group, whose brands include Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster and Harrington & Richardson, managers are encouraged by the "meaningful percentage of current firearm sales . . . made to first-time gun purchasers, particularly women"... http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article6917828.ece --- Tangentially Related: ...These days thieves are really reaching. As traditional targets for theft have beefed up their security and the recession has driven people to desperate measures, robbers are infiltrating corporate offices. Many of the incidences involve small companies with ground-level offices that offer easy access. And sometimes the perpetrators are armed, heightening fear among office workers who thought their sleepy cubicle farms were safe. While the total number of robberies in general decreased slightly in 2008 from 2007, according to estimates from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there was an estimated 10.1% increase from 2004. In 2008, there were an estimated 2.2 million burglaries - an increase of 3.6% when compared with 2004 data. During the third quarter of this year, Crisis Care Network Inc. provided crisis counselors to employees at 206 workplaces - including offices and retail stores - following incidents of armed robbery, up from 185 during the same period in 2008... In general, worker-compensation laws prohibit employees from suing employers for workplace injuries except in circumstances involving gross negligence or recklessness, she says. "It's hard to make the connection between employer recklessness and injuries sustained during a robbery," she says... (Not surprisingly, the article counsels no resistance, with no discussion of defensive armament.) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539754148537802.html?mod=djemLifeStyleh -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. The tactics and skills to use a firearm in self-defense don't come naturally with the right to keep and bear arms. http://www.spw-duf.info .