RKBA Amendments Stall DC Vote Bill: The District's push for a full vote in the House of Representatives hit a snag Tuesday when two gun amendments and a number of others were offered shortly before a House Rules Committee hearing on the bill. The committee pulled the legislation from Wednesday's floor debate in response. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat and the District's nonvoting member of the House, said she would testify before the committee perhaps as early as Wednesday seeking a rule to restrict amendments to the bill. The same rule was employed when a similar bill passed the House in 2007. Mrs. Norton said that she did not think the bill will be ready this week, as originally expected. Still, she said she was grateful the committee pulled the bill "to spare me from having to formally request that it be pulled from the House floor, had it proceeded so quickly that these gun amendments had somehow been possible." A similar amendment to ease the District's gun-control laws were added to the Senate version of the bill last week... Legislation granting the District congressional representation will likely face a legal challenge that would end in the Supreme Court... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/04/hill-panel-pulls-bill-over-gun-add-ons/ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19575.html --- Are the Democrats Gun-Shy of "Gun Control"?: The National Rifle Association warned in a campaign ad that if Barack Obama were elected president he would try to take away hunters' guns and ammo. But with pro-gun Democrats a powerful force in Congress, it's already pretty clear there will be no messing with Americans' right to bear arms. Twenty-two Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, joined Republicans last week in a Senate vote to negate the District of Columbia's tough gun registration requirements and overturn its ban on rapid-fire semiautomatic weapons. More than 80 House Democrats voted for a similar measure last year. "It was a pleasant surprise, but it's not a huge surprise that elected officials are listening to their constituents," said Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist... (Somehow, advice from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is not something I'm prepared to take to the bank.) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153ap_gun_rights.html --- Because They're So Easy to Conceal?: Powerful new handguns called "big boomers" by the gun industry are a growing threat to the nation's law enforcement officers, a new 36-page study released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals. (See below for the full study) Body armor used by police has been able to stop handgun rounds and saved thousands of lives over the last three decades, the study states, but standard body armor cannot stop rifle rounds. "Big Boomers" - Rifle Power Designed Into Handguns warns that the gun industry is aggressively marketing a growing number of new handguns designed to fire bullets with rifle power. The rounds these guns fire can penetrate all but the most resistant body armor (such as that used in raids by many SWAT teams)... (This is the same Tom Diaz who launched an attack on "pocket rockets," compact full-power handguns intended for concealed carry, less than a decade ago.) http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/research-high-powered-handguns-dangerous-threat-to-police-officers --- Record Year for Ohio CCW: The Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the year-end report, Ohio Concealed Handgun Law - 2009 Annual Report. Just as we have seen a spike in demand for guns, we see a strong surge in concealed carry applications from people who want to carry a concealed weapon (CCW). The fourth quarter has generally been a good quarter for licenses issued, but demand in the waning months of 2008 was stronger than anyone expected. The 10,668 regular licenses issued was an unprecedented 111% increase over the same period a year earlier. There were more licenses issued in the last three months of 2008 than the last quarter of 2006 and 2007 combined. It is also the highest demand for new licenses since the 3rd quarter of 2004, the first full quarter the CCW law was in effect... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6544 --- Does CCW Have a Chance in Illinois?: I touched briefly on this back in late January, but there have been enough recent developments on defensive handgun carry in Illinois to warrant another, deeper look. Although such a change in Illinois law still faces a steep climb, the perception is that chances are better than they have been in many years. One reason for the improvement of the odds is the expulsion of Governor (ex-Governor, actually) Rod Blagojevich. Like many other grotesquely corrupt Chicago politicians, Blagojevich had a passion for citizen disarmament, and any carry law that reached his desk would have been vetoed just as fast as he could reach his pen. Governor Quinn has done little to make Illinois gun rights advocates believe that he will be a friend to gun owners, but he at least hasn't made onerous gun laws a cornerstone of his policies. So far, of course, the governor's willingness (or eagerness) to veto a carry bill has not been an issue, because no such bill has come close to passage (or even come up for a floor vote) in many years. One reason to believe that change may be afoot is that for the first time, the Illinois Sheriff's Association has passed a resolution endorsing armed self-defense for private citizens... http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d3-Legalized-defensive-handgun-carry-coming-to-Illinois --- CCW Debated for Colorado County's Employees: Keeping public buildings safe and secure, both for the employees who work in them and the citizens who visit, is one of the most important responsibilities of government. And the task has, without question, gotten more difficult in recent decades. But Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland's shoot-from-the-hip solution to potential security concerns at the old county courthouse is decidedly off target. Her initial suggestion, during a discussion about potential security threats at the courthouse, was to say that county employees "should get a conceal-carry permit" - a permit that allows them to carry concealed weapons. Later, Rowland maintained she wasn't advocating that the county give all of its employees weapons, only that if some employees obtain concealed-carry permits and feel more comfortable carrying weapons at work, the county should allow them to do so... http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/03/02/030309_6A_gun_edit.html --- CCW Confidentiality Sought in Seven States: Lawmakers in seven states are pushing to give confidentiality to people who have obtained permits to carry concealed handguns in a dispute that pits gun-rights advocates against several newspapers and open-government groups. The drive to make gun-permit records confidential resulted from emotional, often angry objections after newspapers posted government records on the Internet that showed who had gun permits... Currently, 28 states have made gun permits confidential, 12 states treat them as open public records and 10 states generally do not grant permits to carry concealed weapons, according to the National Rifle Association... http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/41355 --- South Carolina Bill Would Expand Vehicle Carry: ...The law that the bill seeks to amend allows citizens to carry or 'stow' their guns in a glove compartment, console, trunk, a closed container, or in the luggage compartment of a vehicle. H. 3298 would add the phrase, 'or stowed under a seat.' Obviously the intent of the addition is to provide citizens with the opportunity to access their firearms quickly in case of a threat to their safety, and this is why the bill is of vital importance. And the addition of Parker's name to the bill is significant in that this would be one of the very first pieces of legislation co-sponsored by the new representative from Spartanburg county... (I am not only skeptical of the tactical value of "stowing" a handgun in a vehicle, as opposed to wearing it in a holster, I am particularly dubious about placing it under a seat, where it can slide around, particularly if there is an impact, rendering it difficult to locate in an emergency.) http://www.examiner.com/x-3704-Columbia-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m3d3-The-Parker-gun-bill --- Campus-Carry Bill Filed in Louisiana: College students, faculty and employees who are licensed to carry concealed handguns should be able to tote them on their campuses, where they are now banned, according to a bill filed Monday by Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse. The measure is identical to one Wooton abandoned on the House floor last year after getting the House committee he chairs to approve it 11-3. Wooton said last year he counted 46 votes of support, seven shy of what was needed and withdrew the bill in the last stages of the session. Wooton served notice at that time he would bring the bill back at every session as long as he is in the Legislature. And as last year, college and university officials are lining up against Wooton's House Bill 27... http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/lawmaker_wants_to_allow_guns_o.html --- Wisconsin May Raise Handgun Fee: It may become more expensive for Wisconsinites to buy a handgun, if Gov. Jim Doyle has his way. The Governor's budget calls for raising the background check fee when purchasing handguns from $8 to $30. The State Department of Justice asked Doyle to raise the fee to $13, but the Governor took it further. A local board member of the National Rifle Association is disappointed. "The NRA sees this as a tax by the anti-gun Governor as a proposal to making it more difficult for people to lawfully obtain a handgun," said Buster Bachhuber. Bachhuber says no one is opposed to background checks in general, but the fee increase is like stealing money and putting it into the government's pocket. According to the Governor's budget director, the increase would help offset shortfalls in the background check program and other law enforcement programs funded through offender surcharges. (Note that this is a fee merely to purchase a handgun; Wisconsin has no legal provision for CCW. If the cost of the background check is an issue, why not simply let dealers phone NICS, as is done in most other states?) http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/40669422.html --- Open Carry in Wisconsin Revisited: ...What's at stake are not just gun rights - though those are very much on the table - but our Bill of Rights protections. Recent incidents involving Mark Palan of Highland and Brad Krause of West Allis, as well as others, have been ignored by the mainstream media and by legislators who apparently can't see the forest for the trees, but how they play out will most certainly answer a question of paramount concern: Is Wisconsin a free state or a police state? ...This is not an isolated incident. Police departments around the state are increasingly using disorderly conduct citations to prevent law-abiding citizens from openly carrying firearms. These are not tickets being issued because of disruptive or threatening behavior. These are citizens who are doing nothing but carrying their firearms openly, just as Mr. Krause was. They might be planting trees in their yard, or wearing a holstered pistol for protection while walking in the Northwoods' wilderness with family and pets... http://www.lakelandtimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=10&ArticleID=9185&TM=41334.22 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .