"Stimulus" Could Fund Anti-RKBA Groups: The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the far left anti-gun group under investigation for voter fraud, could be eligible to receive millions, if not billions of dollars from the economic bailout bill that passed out of the House of Representatives yesterday... Another group that could benefit from the bailout bill is MoveOn.org, an organization that has advocated for sweeping gun control laws. According to Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, "MoveOn.org's civic action committee could receive stimulus funds such as money earmarked for energy 'activities', since MoveOn.org lists one of its goals to 'reduce America's dependence on oil.'" Pro-gun Senator David Vitter (R-LA) sees the bill as "payoff" for the liberal interest groups that helped to put Barack Obama in the White House, and that some provisions in the bill were actually written with specific interest groups in view... http://gunowners.org/a020209.htm --- ACORN at Work: The Rev. Melvin Whitley says he has a unique idea to curb gun violence in North Carolina. He's proposing a law that would require consumers to get a license to buy bullets. That would mean a background check before gun owners could acquire any ammunition... Guerriero said the gun industry is already heavily regulated by legislation designed to keep guns out of the wrong hands. "Your felon is not going to go into a retail shop and buy guns the legal way that you and I would. They're not going to go into a shop and purchase ammunition, like you and I would," he said. "They're not going to do that." But Whitley, a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association, said his bill is about gun safety, not gun control. (Curiously, no mention is made of he reverend's affiliation with ACORN.) http://news14.com/content/local_news/triangle/604421/man-proposes-ammunition-restrictions/Default.aspx --- BOHICA: ...For example, Sen. McCain might once more propose legislation to close the gun show loophole, while reaching across the aisle to someone like newly-appointed New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and ask her to be a co-sponsor. Solving a problem by working with members of the opposing party has been a hallmark of Sen. McCain's service in the Senate. Using that reputation to require background checks for all gun sales at gun shows would allow Sen. Gillibrand to begin to represent all New Yorkers on the gun issue. In this way, common sense gun policy can help build a bridge to moderate voters across the ideological spectrum, while allowing both parties to stake a claim as to whose "way of bringing the country together" is better... (Communitarian: A member or supporter of a small cooperative or a collectivist community.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-helmke/bill-clinton-on-pragmatis_b_163433.html A gun-control group is calling on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to sponsor a gun-control bill to show that she's evolving from being a favorite of the gun lobby to a true blue-state senator. "She's saying she realizes that she represents a statewide constituency," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "One way she could prove she has evolved is to push this issue." Helmke said his group is seeking a meeting with Gillibrand to ask her to support legislation to require background checks on gun sales at gun shows, commonly referred to by activists as "closing the gun-show loophole." A message left with Gillibrand's office was not returned Tuesday afternoon... http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/brady-campaign-calls-on-gillibrand-to-sponsor-gun-control-bill-2009-02-03.html --- Nonsense in Orlando: An erstwhile federal ban on assault weapons made lots of sense. Allowing it to lapse, as Congress did in 2004, didn't. How much longer will it take to correct that mindless mistake? There's no need for ordinary citizens to be armed with such lethal firepower. Hunters don't need them. Gun-toting urbanites don't need them, either. Those who say that outlawing these lethal rifles will only mean that criminals will have access to them are flat wrong. All that legalization does is make it easier for crooks to get them, and make it necessary for police to play catch-up in a costly city-street arms race... This one's a no-brainer. The ban was once on the books; all that Congress has to do is write it back into U.S. law. Oh, yes, with one exception. Don't write in a sunset provision this time. (Oh yes, just like all the drug laws have made it so difficult for criminals to buy and sell banned and restricted drugs.) http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed03109feb03,0,1980888.story South Carolina Sheriff's Officer Chimes In: ..."If a deputy comes up on a guy with an AK-47 or something like that, he would not be prepared," Charleston County Sheriff's Maj. John Clark said Monday. "Those guns can penetrate a vest, depending on the round." Law enforcement officials said the James Island incident, which left one man dead, underscores the need to crack down on the illegal use of military-style weapons, such as AK-47s and SKS rifles... (Whether a spent case is replaced manually or automatically has no effect on how easily a bullet will penetrate soft body armor. A .30-30 is actually a more powerful round than the 7.62x39mm round fired from an SKS or an AK-47 clone.) http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/feb/03/crimes_spur_support_tougher_s_c_laws70420/ --- The Beat Goes On, as Seen by Voice of America: The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms, and roughly one third of all Americans are exercising that right. The FBI estimates there are more than 200 million privately owned guns in the United States, and that number is rising. Gun sales have been booming ever since Barack Obama's appearance on the presidential campaign trail. Government officials charged with reviewing civilian applications for the purchase of firearms report there was a 50 percent increase in requests for reviews between November 2007 and November 2008. Obama's record of supporting gun-control measures gave gun sales another boost after his election November 4th, and sales have continued to rise in the early days of his presidency... (No, the Second Amendment protests a right that is presumed given the Creator.) http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2009-02-03-voa31.cfm --- The Beat Goes On - The Flip Side: Illinois gun owners could fall prey to a state bureaucracy that fails to process firearm owner's identification cards promptly. The state's tardiness leaves some otherwise law-abiding firearm owners vulnerable to criminal charges because FOID cards often expire while the state police are still processing renewals. Criminal charges can be filed against any resident who possesses a gun but does not have a valid FOID card. The Illinois State Police agency is required by law to process FOID applications within 30 days. But the process is taking up to 60 business days, according to agency spokesman Lt. Scott Compton... Compton attributed the delay to a deluge of 280,000 applications last year, well above the 225,000 the state averages and the most since 1968. More than 88,500 came in the last three months alone. One day in December 2008 saw about 2,400 applications, more than double the state's average for that date... (Even Arizona is running behind on processing CWP applications, due to the surge.) http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=434886 --- Virginia Senate Supports RKBA: ...Hours later, the full Senate rejected a bill that would have required merchants who sell weapons at gun shows to first conduct background checks on the buyers. The measure's sponsor used a procedural maneuver to keep the legislation alive, at least for one more day... The Senate also voted to repeal a law that prohibited anyone from carrying concealed weapons into a club or restaurant where alcohol is served... Virginia, considered by many to be a conservative Southern state, is home to the National Rifle Association, and gun ownership is widespread. Tobacco was once the foundation of Virginia's economy, and the state is home to thousands of tobacco farms and Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA... ("Merchants" with FFL's are already required to conduct background checks; the bill would have imposed the burden on private-party transactions. Virginia may be home to the NRA headquarters, which moved there from DC, but I believe that the primary lobbying force for the RKBA in the state is now the Virginia Citizens Defense League.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020301714.html --- Tennessee May Reconsider CCW Confidentiality: What some are calling a matter of privacy, others are calling a dangerous idea. At issue is whether or not applications for gun-carry permits should be kept confidential. Getting a permit isn't only about learning the rules; a lot of personal information must be given up. "You have to answer a lot of questions," said John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association. "Like, for example, 'How were you discharged from the military?' 'Have you ever been addicted to any kind of alcohol or other substances?' 'Have you ever had any psychiatric problems?' A lot of information is disclosed on the forms that really shouldn't be public." That's information that many permit owners don't want out there along with their addresses and what kind of guns they own... http://www.wsmv.com/news/18633290/detail.html#- --- Arkansas Expanded-Carry Bill Clears Committee: An Arkansas legislative committee has backed a bill allowing concealed weapons in churches, despite concerns of a pastor who said he was shot in a sanctuary two decades ago and still opposes the measure. Pastor John Phillips Jr. told members of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that churches should be safe places, free from weapons... Several pastors from churches around the state testified in support of the bill, saying they worried about the safety of their congregations. "To me, being in church is probably one of the most vulnerable places anyone can be as far as an attack happening," said Pastor Mark Thorton of the Big Creek Missionary Baptist Church in Malvern. "And if there's no one there who can legally carry a handgun, we're going to be on the 6 o'clock news." (Let me get this straight - it was not only illegal for the deranged man to shoot Pastor Phillips, it was also illegal for him to carry the gun into the church at the time. I guess that law really works.) http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902040318 --- California Sheriff's Department Shows Bias: Transcripts of text messages sent by Orange County sheriff's officials during a November 2008 Board of Supervisors meeting shows the law enforcement leaders used their cell phones to ridicule activists and even supervisors during a public hearing on gun permit policies. The messages, obtained under a public records request by a group named Ordinary California Citizens Concerned With Safety, reveal a combative tone by sheriff's command staff toward the activists. Some county supervisors questioned whether that defensiveness triggered the large security presence that met activists when they returned to a January meeting seeking to again criticize Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' gun policies. "We are locked in mortal battle. ... It is ugly. We will survive however," wrote Assistant Sheriff Mike Hillmann as he sat in the audience at 1:17 p.m. during the Nov. 18 board meeting. Hillmann, a former LAPD deputy chief recruited by Hutchens to help reform Orange County's troubled department, made fun of County Supervisor Janet Nguyen - a vocal critic of Hutchen's concealed weapons policies. Hillmann texted: "I hope Janet has a pet she can call a friend." ... (LAPD brass have been notoriously hostile toward armed private citizens.) http://www.ocregister.com/articles/sheriff-hutchens-meeting-2297673-activists-county --- Guns at Work: Are your co-workers armed? At a small company off the Beltway, employees fired back when a mentally ill woman who was supposedly looking to kill her father shot a worker with an arrow. Two co-workers there had their own handguns - and permits to carry them - when the woman arrived... Gun proponents say this is what the Texas Concealed Handgun Law is for: allowing properly screened and trained citizens to protect themselves. But are guns a good idea at work? Many companies say no. Houston-based Conoco-Phillips is among them. Conoco-Phillips not only bans guns in the office, but also in company parking lots. That rule has led to lawsuits in Oklahoma. But could armed workers have protected themselves two years ago at the Space Center when a disgruntled worker smuggled in a gun, killed a coworker and held another hostage before shooting himself? With companies laying off people by the thousands, some corporations are questioning their gun policies. Sometimes the answers they're getting are surprising... http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou090202_tnt_guns-at-office.11967211.html --- Rule One, Rule Two Reminder: After the shotgun blast, Alaina Beasley screamed, fell to the apartment floor and cried to the shooter - her husband of three months - to call 911... After an hour outdoors shooting skeet, the whole family trouped to Lincoln for a brief tour of the capital city, a sandwich lunch and a visit. It had been a perfect Saturday. Until 9:14 p.m. That's when the forgotten shell burst from the pump-action shotgun, flying six feet inside their Lincoln apartment before it hit an unintended target: Alaina... Josh Beasley, who completed a gun safety course last week, was cleaning his shotgun Saturday night at their home at 6230 N.W. Second Circle, not realizing the gun still held one shell... (Rule One: All firearms are always loaded. Rule Two: Don't let the muzzle cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.) http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10553228 --- Platitudes and Questions in Jamaica: There is merit in the arguments advanced by both sides in the current debate on relaxing the rules governing the ownership of licensed firearms... We feel, though, that any decision taken by the authorities on this matter should be influenced by facts relative to Jamaica rather than emotion. For instance, how many licensed firearm holders are held up and/or killed and robbed of their guns each year? How many acts of violence are prevented by licensed firearm holders? How often does the mere sight of a firearm discourage an attacker? How many cases of accidental shootings by owners of legal firearms have been recorded? And what level of training are the owners of licensed firearms exposed to? These are some of the questions that need to be answered before any decision is taken either way on this matter. For as we said, valid points have been raised by both sides. The police, we suspect, should have some of this data, but there is need for a wider and more detailed study devoid of the dangers of advocacy research. (We have one list member in Jamaica, who originally contacted me, a few years back, for details on training requirements for the Arizona CWP.) http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/html/20090202T190000-0500_145630_OBS_IN_THIS_GUN_DEBATE_LET_S_NOT_SHOOT_FROM_THE_LIP.asp -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .