Merry Second Amendment Christmas: If it weren't for his trusty handgun, Gary Wroblewski's Christmas wouldn't be merry. Late on Monday night, December 14, when wheelchair-bound Mr. Wroblewski was about to retire to bed, he heard a knock on his front door. "Our car broke down and we need some help," said the young man. Fortunately Mr. Wroblewski felt suspicious that anybody would even bother him this late at night, and had armed himself before answering the door. "Why don't you ask at another house or call AAA? I'm not coming outside." As the man kept insisting on Wroblewski's help, he tried to close his door, but an accomplice sprang out of the bushes and crashed through the door, knocking Wroblewski out of his wheelchair. Fortunately, Wroblewski managed to fire his handgun while falling, killing this new attacker, Jeffrey Alan Kenney. The first man ran away... What would Christmas be for a biased Old Media reporter without some revisionist history in his stocking? The Palm Beach Post article concluded: "The sheriff's office has not said whether the homeowner will face any charges. He is likely protected by Florida's Castle Doctrine." ...Here's wishing Mr. Wroblewski a wonderful, safe Christmas. Merry X-ring to all, and to all a good night. http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d24-Merry-Second-Amendment-Christmas --- A Most Necessary Tool: Guns are technology. Many of us no longer think of firearms as technology, however. We've allowed popular culture, emotional mythos and political propaganda to affect our view of these tools. We see them not as labor-saving devices, but as statements. We may uphold them as emblematic of liberty or we may condemn them as inherently, murderously dangerous, depending on our political outlook. But we've stopped understanding them technologically... It's Christmas Eve. If the bump in the night, the knock on your door, the footsteps on your roof or the footfalls on your porch are not those of Santa Claus, what will you do? Will you hide and pray? Will you beg your telephone for help that can only come too late? Or will you take up your lever, prepared to move those who threaten you and the people you love? If we, as citizens of this nation, forget that firearms are necessary tools, we will be left only with the choice to lie down and hope. Hope is not a strategy. Wishful thinking is not a tool. To preserve a free America, we must remain equipped to protect ourselves. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=119889 --- From GOA: You guys have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Our efforts together in lobbying against ObamaCare have netted some positive gains, and that has the political left up in arms. The writers at the ultra-liberal Slate magazine are beside themselves that an organization like the Gun Owners of America was able to move the Senate to include protections for gun owners. According to Slate on December 20: "Score one for the Gun Owners of America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle Association.... [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who represents the gun-loving state of Nevada has inserted into his "manager's amendment" a section titled "Protecting 2nd Amendment Gun Rights." It states that no wellness program implemented under health reform may require disclosure or collection of any information relating to gun ownership." Medical information has already been used to deny - without due process or trial by jury - more than 150,000 military veterans the right to buy firearms. In the face of all this abuse, Senator Reid was pressured by GOA and his constituents into making a face-saving move. He wanted to silence the pro-gun community's objections, so he took steps to strip the bill of any gun rights concerns. But what a delicious irony this created. Prior to Senator Reid's Second Amendment "fix," many Senators had been telling their constituents for months that there were no Second Amendment concerns in the ObamaCare legislation - and now, Senator Reid left them out on a limb... (Let's hope this proves to be more than some temporary sugar coating on a very bitter pill.) http://gunowners.org/a122309.htm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-helmke/gun-lobbyists-against-wel_b_401200.html --- Girls Just Wanna Have Guns: Having a difficult time deciding what to get those special women in your life for Christmas? Well, those who track Americans' purchasing and lifestyle trends say all the data points to firearms as one of the most popular choices for females this holiday season. In fact, some forecasters say the last 12 months of record-busting firearms sales will easily spill over into the Christmas season, especially for females who are both giving and receiving. Asked what they'd like to receive for Christmas gifts this year, women respondents to a Consumer Reports Money and Shopping Blog survey they'd be "thrilled to receive boots, purses, pajamas and guns." ...The St. Petersburg Times reported last week that firearms retailers across Florida say they've witnessed more women shopping for guns and training this holiday season than ever before. "The mama instinct is big-time," said Mark Rutan, a salesman at Pinellas Park Bill Jackson's Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park. "Mamas want to protect their babies, and they will." http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/newshound/2009/12/girls-just-wanna-have-guns --- VPC Lies about CCW: Would you trust the statistical and factual reporting acumen of an organization that can't even tell the difference between someone being dead or alive? No, this isn't about the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia or the other bad actors of Climategate (though it could be). This is about a little organization that Barack built. Not ACORN (though it could be). This is about the Violence Policy Center (VPC), one of the gun-control organizations our B+ president helped fund as a board member of the left-wing Joyce Foundation. For the past few months, the VPC has decided to target concealed carry permit holders as particularly bad, evil people. This approach is quite puzzling to anyone actually familiar with concealed carry permit holders, a group that tends to be a bit older, a bit whiter, and a bit more likely to buy Fleetwood Mac albums than most. As a subset of the citizenry, concealed carry permit holders are also more likely to be law-abiding that [sic]the general population. And so it was with a certain degree of satisfaction that I picked apart "Concealed Carry Killers," a series of poorly formatted and tabulated PDFs that is part of the Violence Policy Center's crusade to misrepresent and demonize those who carry concealed handguns (CCH)... http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/violence-policy-center-makes-it-up-as-they-go-along-%E2%80%94-again/ --- Peoria CCW Proposal Draws Dodge City Comparison: Dodge City was once known as a true frontier town of the Wild West, where lawlessness and gunslinging were common during the cattle drives of the late 1800s. But the city also became an unusual reference point during the first public debate Tuesday on whether Peoria should serve as a pilot city for a statewide [IL] concealed-carry law. At-large City Councilman Gary Sandberg questioned how residents will be able to possess concealed handguns at restaurants, taverns and other locations of Peoria that abut nearby cities that wouldn't have a concealed-carry law, such as Peoria Heights and West Peoria. Sandberg also wondered how the law could be enforced at restaurants like La Gondola (formerly Leonardo's), where portions of the business are located in both Peoria and Peoria Heights. "Will there be a board on the side of the building where they can hang the gun up like they do in Dodge City?" Sandberg asked during a debate on whether to include the concealed-carry provision on the city's 2010 list of legislative priorities. Mayor Jim Ardis, a proponent of the legislation making Peoria a pilot city for a statewide concealed-carry law, replied he's never said that the Illinois law has to mirror activities of Dodge City and "didn't know if they have a place to hang a gun up at a restaurant." ... (For all its Hollywood-enhanced reputation, Dodge City, during the heyday of the cattle drives, had a much lower rate of violence than Chicago has today.) http://www.pjstar.com/news/x89205752/Concealed-carry-proposal-draws-comparisons-to-Dodge-City --- Illinois Senate Candidates Differ on RKBA: U.S. Senate candidates in Illinois walk carefully when discussing gun control, with most stressing support for the right to bear arms even if they favor some restrictions... Democrat Cheryle Jackson, on leave as president of the Chicago Urban League while running for the Senate, said she wants to revive the federal ban on assault-style weapons, which expired in 2004, a position echoed for the most part by her Democratic opponents. Most Republicans, on the other hand, oppose an assault weapons ban. The GOP's leading candidate, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, did not mention assault weapons in his response to the Associated Press questionnaire, but called for "sensible measures to reduce illegal gun violence." He did not specify what he meant by "sensible." ... (Illinois is one of those states in which the major urban center is in sharp conflict with the remainder of the state over the RKBA, hence the "walking carefully while discussing gun control." Senatorial elections, after all, are statewide.) http://www.bnd.com/326/story/1062837.html --- New Hampshire State House Gun Ban Draws Fire: A mix of pro-gun activists and Republican legislators are protesting a new rule that bans weapons from the State House... On Monday, the legislative facilities subcommittee, which includes House and Senate leadership, voted 8-3 to ban individuals from carrying firearms or other deadly weapons into the State House, the Legislative Office Building, the Upham Walker House or any of the underground tunnels connecting the buildings. Only law enforcement will be allowed to carry guns into the building. The ban applies to both open and concealed weapons. The vote fell along party lines, with Democrats supporting the ban and Republicans opposing it. One Democrat, Rep. Daniel Eaton, was not present and said he would have voted against it. The committee has the power to make rules affecting State House facilities, so the ban does not need legislative approval... Hassan said the ban carries no civil or criminal penalties. "It's the reinstituting of a policy we had for a decade. It seemed to us not something that needed a great deal of review," Hassan said... Bragdon said people work at the State House late at night, and sometimes have to walk through an alley to the Storrs Street garage. "Representatives have been threatened going back and forth," Bragdon said. "People need to be able to protect themselves." ... http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091223/NEWS01/912230341/1001/NEWS01 http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/2627-weapons-banned-at-nh-state-house --- Meanwhile, in Michigan: Scott Webb showed up at the Dec. 15 Algonac City Council meeting with a gun. It was perfectly legal. Webb had a semi-automatic 40-caliber pistol lawfully holstered at his side, while he addressed the council regarding the state gun law. He resides in Clinton Township, but said he has friends in Algonac and frequents the city parks often during summer events. He said one of his friends discovered an ordinance on Algonac's books banning citizens from carrying guns, including concealed weapons. "My friend said, 'I didn't think they could do that,'" said Webb, who carries his gun openly and also has a concealed gun license. His friend was right, he said, referring to MCL 123.1102, passed in 1990, that prohibits local municipalities from enacting and enforcing local ordinances for gun-free zones that trump state law... http://www.voicenews.com/articles/2009/12/23/news/doc4b31097e592d4316494163.txt --- Iowa Sheriff Lobbies against Shall-Issue CCW: The Clinton County Board of Supervisors met with Iowa legislators this week to discuss a variety of topics that could be addressed in the upcoming legislative session. Rep. Tom Schueller, D-Maquoketa, Rep. Steve Olson, R-DeWitt, and Sen. Roger Stewart, D-Preston, attended the meeting. These three representatives discussed issues ranging from financial and budget constraints in the next year to mental heath care. Clinton County Sheriff Rick Lincoln also presented changes that could be made statewide concerning concealed weapon permits. Lincoln said the National Rifle Association has recently requested that the current system of issuing permits go from a "may issue" to a "shall issue" practice. This would standardize the way all 99 sheriffs in the state go about issuing permits to carry. "The unfortunate aspect is if we go to a 'shall issue' state, and a person comes into my office, applies for that permit to carry a concealed weapon and they don't have any of the disqualifiers, I have to give them permit to carry a concealed weapon," said Lincoln. "The problem with that is, there are people that don't have the disqualifiers but we all know shouldn't be carrying a concealed weapon." ... (Lincoln's issue is obviously not with training but with retaining his power to decide who can carry a firearm legally.) http://www.clintonherald.com/local/local_story_357132905.html --- A Christmas Gift for Bill Ayers: ...Until recently, I didn't know I could give NRA memberships as Christmas gifts. I had never really thought about it until long after I got into a very nasty spat with terrorist professor Bill Ayers of the University of Illinois - Chicago. Readers will recall that my unpleasant exchange with the pipe bomb making terrorist was making its rounds on the internet around this time last year... While I was surfing the net, I saw an article accusing Tiger Woods of an affair with a porn star. That made me think about the time someone was offended by an anti-pornography article I had written. The offended party retaliated by signing me up for a subscription to Playboy and having it sent to my office. I gave the Playboys to a lesbian professor as a show of good will. Sometimes it's better to extend an olive branch than to offer a fig leaf. And that's what gave me the idea to sign Bill Ayers up for the NRA. I found all of the information needed to fill out that application on the University of Illinois - Chicago website. Within weeks, issues of the NRA's "American Rifleman" magazine will go right to his office. Signing him up cost my organization www.DrAdams.org a mere $35. It was money well spent in the spirit of reconciliation. For years, liberals have been denying that Ayers is a terrorist while falsely accusing NRA members of being terrorists. Now that Bill is in the NRA, Leftists will have no choice but to admit the following: Bill Ayers is an unrepentant terrorist! ... http://townhall.com/columnists/MikeAdams/2009/12/23/bill_ayers_joins_the_nra?page=full --- Another Deadly Warning Shot: A 31-year-old man said he intended to fire only a "warning shot" when he accidentally killed a woman who'd been part of a group who robbed him Tuesday night on the South Side... Police say the man's story appears to check out... The man said he was robbed at gunpoint about 11 p.m. while he was walking to a corner store near 47th and South Prairie. He said he was then forced into a sedan with the gunman and four others, all of whom appeared to be in their teens. At some point, three of the robbers got out of the car and walked into a nearby restaurant to try to use the victim's ATM card, the man said. A short while later, the vehicle driver - apparently concerned about nearby police activity - tossed his handgun into the back seat, where McComb was sitting. "I guess she fumbles, and the gun goes off - pow!" the man said. The man said he was able to pick up the gun and jump out of the vehicle. But McComb, who'd been shot in the hand when the gun discharged, chased after him, the man said. That's when he says he opened fire. The man later flagged down police... http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1954545,south-side-shooting-woman-dead-122309.article http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/woman-found-shot-in-bronzeville-alley.html --- Oops, Wrong Store: Prosecutors won't file charges against an Omaha business owner who shot and killed a suspected burglar over the weekend. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine says he believes the shooting was justified. The owner of Bazar Latino who shot the man has not been named. Police say 23-year-old Jesus Franco was found dead Saturday morning. His body was in the snow about 30 feet from a south Omaha business that had reported a burglary. The owner told officers he fired his gun during a confrontation with a suspected burglar, who then fled. http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=11722102 An Omaha woman is mourning the death of her boyfriend, a suspected burglar shot and killed by a business owner over the weekend. She believes that business owner should be charged with a crime. Police say Jesus Franco broke into the business near 24th and I streets around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, struggled with the owner and then ran from the scene after being shot. Police found Franco dead a few blocks away, alone in his car. Lynn Pecha is overcome with grief. Franco's girlfriend does not believe the story. "It's not right, he didn't have no weapons on him, the cops never found weapons and the guy said he had a knife. There was no knife." Lynn's mother agrees that charges should be filed against the business owner... http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/79858682.html --- Rule One Reminder: Each time, the gun looked unloaded. Each time, a young man died. "It's the first cardinal rule of gun safety, and I can't stress it enough," Knox County [TN] Sheriff's Office Sgt. Mike Lett said. "You treat all guns as if they're loaded until you verify otherwise for yourself." William Michael Clarence Evans' death Wednesday in White Pine marked the second local case in three days of a fatal shot from a gun thought to be empty. "Everybody's enamored by these semiautomatic (pistols)," Jefferson County Sheriff David Davenport said. "But even trained, experienced people can forget that if you clear the magazine, there can still be one (round) left in the chamber." Accidental shootings - often from "unloaded" guns - have killed more than 1,300 people between the ages of 10-20 across the country since 1999, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say nearly every death could be prevented by following a few basic rules. "The gun's not the problem," said Lett, who oversees Knox County's gun training for carry permit applicants. "It's the person holding it. You should always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. You should always keep your finger off the trigger until you're on target. You should always be sure of your target." ... (Rule One: All firearms are always loaded. Grammar and logic do not appear to be requirements for a journalism degree - people may be killed with guns presumed to be unloaded but they are not killed by them.) http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/dec/24/without-training-unloaded-guns-kill/?partner=RSS --- South Dakota Student Suspended for Shotgun in Car: The Sioux Falls School Board has expelled a student for one year after they [sic] brought a weapon to school. The decision comes just days after a school resource officer found a shotgun in the trunk of car at Washington High School. The 17 year old student said he forgot the gun in his car after going pheasant hunting on opening weekend. The decision to expel the student was done during an executive session, but the minutes from that meeting were just recently made public. School officials can't say if the expulsion of the student, and the gun found at Washington are connected. School officials aren't identifying the student either but according to school board minutes the expelled student can't come back to school until November 19th, 2010, exactly one year after a 17 year old was found with a gun in the Washington High School parking lot... Sioux Falls Police say the Washington student forgot the shotgun in his car after a hunting trip. Officers said the gun wasn't loaded and there was no ammunition in the car... http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6374.cfm?Id=93417 --- How to Draw the Attention of F Troop: Here's an item from the November 2009 FFL Newsletter (a monthly publication sent to FFL holders) that ought to interest gun owners who might buy "a large number of the same or similar model firearms," or who might discuss lunch plans privately while in the gun shop. Herewith, the BATFE report, with questions the report might raise among shopping gunowners marked in bold. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are committed to protecting our nation from individuals who seek to acquire firearms for use in criminal activity, including violence towards innocent people. To be successful, we need the assistance of the firearms industry... (Earlier this year I counseled a couple who took my CWP course to purchase three identical models of the same pistol. This was so that each could pick up the other's carry gun with complete familiarity and so that they would have a backup available in case one has to go in for repair. I prefer to carry at least two identical handguns and to have at least one more similar model in the safe. BATFE seems to regard that as a marker of criminal intent.) http://www.gunreports.com/news/news/BATF-BATFE-gun-rights-buy-guns-second-amendment-FFL-FBI_1716-1.html?ET=gunreports:e597:183810a:&st=email http://www.gunreports.com/news/news/ffl-newsletter-2009-11.php --- Air Marshals Go to SIG P250: SIG SAUER, Inc. announced last week that it has secured a multi-million dollar contract to deliver pistols to the Federal Air Marshal Service. The contract provides the Federal Air Marshal Service with SIG SAUER's P250 Compact pistol in .357 SIG caliber... (The P250 is a modular pistol capable of extensive conversion. It has generally received high marks and, to my knowledge, is the only SIG pistol with ambidextrous slide stop/release levers, albeit at SIG's unique location. http://www.gunreports.com/news/news/Sig-Sauer-Air-Marshal-P250_1717-1.html?ET=gunreports:e597:183810a:&st=email http://www.sigsauer.com/Products/ShowCatalogProduct.aspx?categoryid=54 With the approval of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Sig Sauer gun company has released specific information about the model of pistol that Federal Air Marshals will soon be carrying - data that both current and former Air Marshals say puts the Marshals and air passengers at risk. "This is the last thing you want to give to anyone who wants to carry out an act of terror," said Frank Terreri, president of the Federal Air Marshal Agency, a trade group representing the Marshals. "Anyone who wants to take over a plane can be proactive and research that type of weapon, basically know everything about that weapon before going on the plane," said Terreri. "You really don't want to give that playbook out to your enemy." ... (The DEA may still have a policy of issuing a variety of handguns to its agents, to minimize their being identified by the model that they carry, when they work undercover; drug dealers do carry guns. Inasmuch as only certain law-enforcement officers can carry firearms aboard airplanes, I fail to see the parallel for the air marshals.) http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/tsa-security-cops-blast-release-handgun-information/story?id=9403793 --- British Veteran Who Found Shotgun Gets Suspended Sentence: A former soldier who was given a suspended sentence after handing a sawn-off shotgun to police believes his actions merited an award instead. Paul Clarke, 27, of Merstham, Redhill, was convicted of possessing a firearm in November and sentenced earlier. Reading Crown Court heard Clarke found a bin liner containing a shotgun in March and was arrested when he handed it in four days later. The judge told Clarke he should have asked police to come straight away. Judge Christopher Critchlow said the minimum sentence for possessing a firearm was normally five years, but it was a "highly unusual case" and gave Clarke 12-month sentence, suspended for one year... Clarke had told the court he did not call the police when he found the item because he had suffered "harassment" from Surrey Police over a relationship he was having with a female detective. He said he stored it in a wooden chest at his home and arranged to meet a police officer he knew personally... ("Stitch-up" appears to be English slang for what Americans called a "frame up.") http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/surrey/8421485.stm --- Ruger Tactical Tips: Dave Spaulding initiates a series of non-commercial video clips for Ruger. It's unclear how one is to know when they get updated. http://www.ruger-firearms.com/resources/videos.html --- Jerry Miculek Pro Tips: Smith & Wesson offers five instructional video clips with Jerry Miculek. http://www.myoutdoortv.com/pdk/web/smith.html?feedPID=00zG15zm84msK0GbWemanhJ0KNWQYqM4 --- Fashion Police in Action?: A career criminal who slaughtered three members of a family in their apartment in New York's trendy Upper West Side Thursday plunged to his death after tripping over his baggy pants... He then went after Gisela's daughter, who scrambled for safety and ran to a nearby bedroom. The killer was inches away from grabbing her but tripped over his low-slung pants, sources said. The horrified woman managed to slam and lock the door just in time, only to find the bloodied bodies of her brother and dad inside... Fleeing empty-handed, Quinones ditched his gun, a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol loaded with hollow-point bullets, and made a dash down a rear fire escape. But again, his low-slung pants fell to his ankles, tripping him and sending him falling three stories to his death, authorities said. http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpps/news/dpgonc-NY-Killer-Tripped-Pants-Plunged-Death-fc-20091218_5152028?obref=obinsite --- Tangentially Related: Last Thursday, December 17, 2009, The White House released an Executive Order "Amending Executive Order 12425." It grants INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) a new level of full diplomatic immunity afforded to foreign embassies and select other "International Organizations" as set forth in the United States International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945. By removing language from President Reagan's 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law enforcement body now operates - now operates - on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests... http://threatswatch.org/analysis/2009/12/wither-sovereignty/ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12425 -- 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 .