Brady Bunch Shills for Sotomayor: ...Some have been attacking Judge Sotomayor for her decisions on gun rights, but as I point out in my statement released today, she has just followed precedent. Until last year, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt with the Second Amendment as something tied to a "well regulated militia" and not as an individual right. Given that long-standing interpretation, it's not surprising that the Supreme Court had not "incorporated" the yet-to-be-discovered individual right to have a gun in the home for self-defense to the states prior to the June 26, 2008 Heller decision. Furthermore, since Heller dealt with the District of Columbia (a federal enclave), that decision did not have to deal with the issue of state incorporation. In coming months and years, the Supreme Court will have to deal with that issue, as well as the application to specific laws of Justice Scalia's long list of gun restrictions, which he indicated were "presumptively lawful." These restrictions include limits on who can get guns, where they can be taken, how they are sold, how they are stored, and what kinds of guns they are. Judge Sotomayor's respect for precedent, as well as her real world experiences as a prosecutor, give me hope that she will understand the need for responsibilities as well as rights when it comes to evaluating gun laws. (While Heller did not incorporate the Second Amendment against that states, an issue in Maloney v. Cuomo, her opinion in U.S. v. Sanchez-Villar, that the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right, is even more disturbing.) http://www.bradycampaign.org/blog/?p=711 http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1140 --- And in This Corner...: Judge Sonia Sotomayor's best defense against firearms owners mobilizing to oppose her U.S. Supreme Court nomination may come from an unlikely source: two top conservatives on the federal bench. Sotomayor was labeled "anti-gun" by Gun Owners of America for refusing to extend to the states the U.S. Supreme Court's 2008 decision overturning a Washington, D.C., handgun ban. The group said a January ruling by a three-judge panel that included Sotomayor displayed "pure judicial arrogance" for declining to throw out a New York state weapons law. Richard Posner and Frank Easterbrook, appointed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago by President Ronald Reagan, signaled at a May 26 hearing in a separate weapons case that they side with Sotomayor's hands-off approach. "It's nice to have two leading conservative judges" for support, said Washington lawyer Patricia Millett, a Supreme Court specialist. It "will really take the steam" out of accusations Sotomayor, 54, is hostile to gun rights, she said... (Posner and Easterbrook have previously distinguished themselves by failing to support the RKBA.) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aobeuwj9PsOU&refer=us --- Brady Bunch Seeks Dismissal of NRA Lawsuit: Attorneys with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence today are asking the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, PA to throw out the lawsuit by the National Rifle Association against the City of Pittsburgh. The NRA is challenging Pittsburgh's ordinance, which fights gun trafficking by requiring the reporting of lost or stolen guns. The Brady Center has taken the case pro bono and is not charging the city any legal fees for the representation... The filing today asks the court to dismiss the case because the NRA failed to state a valid claim that is ripe for review by the court. Specifically, the court papers argue that the NRA failed to explain how its members have the "right" to hide from police the fact that a gun has been lost or stolen and may be in the hands of a dangerous person intent on committing violence... http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1141 --- Oops, Wrong House: A Fayette County homeowner shot and killed an intruder early Monday morning. Investigators with the Fayette County Sheriff's Department say the dead man is the homeowner's neighbor... The homeowner, 63 year-old Willie Woods, says he woke up to the sounds of his wife and daughter frantically yelling for him. A man, they told him, was on their front porch trying to break in through the picture window. "I ordered him not to come in the house," says Woods, "and he was standing there on the porch screaming something, I don't know what it was. And I kept telling him not to come in." Woods says his porch light wasn't on and it was hard to see. But he could tell the guy had something hard in his hand and he kept hitting the window with it. Woods says he learned later that the intruder was using a rake to pound on the glass. "I went back and got my gun and came back into the room," says Woods, "and he broke at me. He asked me what I was going to do and he broke at me, right through the window. He walked right through the window and so I shot. I fired about three shots." Investigators say the intruder was hit in the head and died at the scene... http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Fayette-County-Homeowner-Shoots-and-Kills-Intruder/c3eQuEvsrEGic6YPdQowpQ.cspx --- Oops, Wrong Yard: Police said a homeowner in far south Fort Worth shot and killed an apparent intruder shortly after midnight Saturday. According to a preliminary investigation, a resident in the 8100 block of Camelot Road told police he had heard someone in his backyard and grabbed a shotgun. The 37-year-old man told police he fired approximately five times at the suspect and then went back inside the house to protect his children. The 24-year-old man who was shot stumbled to the front yard, where he was found dead. He was identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office as Pierre Bullock of Fort Worth. The homeowner's name was not released. Fort Worth police homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/053109fwfatalshootingwffa.357a3f34.html --- Bringing an Attitude to a Gunfight: A man shot and killed one of three men who burst into his home in the Harbor Gateway area, police said Monday. The shooting occurred about 11:15 a.m. Sunday in the 1600 block of West 215th Street, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations office...According to the preliminary investigation, three men entered the residence and got into a "physical altercation" with the victim, who wrested a handgun from one suspect and shot him, Eisenman said... One neighbor said he was going out for breakfast when he saw a resident outside the house, clutching his face as if he was punched, the newspaper reported. Two of the intruders then ran from the house past him, got into a silver Honda Civic and drove away, the neighbor said. The third intruder remained inside the house. "They left him behind," the neighbor said. "Then we heard the gunshot." http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Police-Homeowner-Grabs-Intruders-Gun-Opens-Fire.html --- Knight Rifles Shutting Down: During the recent NRA Annual Meetings, Americanrifleman.org/Americanhunter.org learned that Knight Rifles is closing its doors after 24 years as a key American firearms manufacturer. That news was confirmed late last week via an announcement from Modern Muzzleloading, Inc., a related subsidiary under corporate parent, Pradco Outdoor Brands/EBSCO. The press release stated, "The decision to close the Knight operation resulted from an overall industry downturn." Reportedly Knight sales had declined sharply in recent years and efforts to sell the brand and company assets were unsuccessful... From the time of introduction in 1985, Knight's inline muzzleloaders exerted a profound effect on the American hunting scene. Founder Tony Knight's ingenious adaptation of a largely forgotten, 180-year-old muzzleloader design attracted deer hunters in droves thanks to modern lines and ease of operation. In short order other firms co-opted the inline concept, and the resulting new class of firearms tallied big sales. This led to a resurgence in muzzleloading as big-game hunters across the nation equipped themselves to take advantage of blackpowder-only seasons... http://www.gunsandhunting.com/Knight.html --- From AzCDL: We need volunteers for Mesa gun show on June 27 & 28, 2009, at the Mesa Centennial Hall (Crossroads of the West). If you can spare a few hours we would deeply appreciate your help. AzCDL's phenomenal growth is primarily because of the hard work of our gun show volunteers. Gun shows provide a great opportunity to educate other gun owners about our hard won successes and the opportunities in this year's legislation. Come on down and spend some time observing the other volunteers. When you feel ready, step on in. If pro-active interactions are not your forte, we still need volunteers to manage the table, help hand out flyers and brochures, and keep an eye on things. Volunteers who work the AzCDL table for a few hours get into gun shows FREE! If your membership is coming up for renewal soon, stop by the table and renew at the "gun show special" rate ($10 off!). Sustaining memberships get a FREE AzCDL T-Shirt. Interested? Send an email to John: john.rosado@AzCDL.org . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .