Today's the Day: Today's the day. It is now "legal" to carry guns in national parks, providing applicable state rules are observed. And there's no shortage of hand-wringers predicting the end of the world as we know it. So perhaps we should spend a moment and review what the new rule won't do: It won't legalize murder. It won't legalize poaching. It won't legalize armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon or brandishing. It won't legalize destruction of property. It won't legalize gun possession by "prohibited persons." The "reasoning" used by those who tell us we cannot allow guns in national parks actually applies everywhere, and that's where we can demonstrate the flaw in their argument. An otherwise peaceable armed citizen who gets by just fine with his guns outside park boundaries won't suddenly undergo a personality transformation once he crosses a line on a map. And a criminal, who is not predisposed to obeying rules, won't alter his behavior one way or another... http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m2d22-What-guns-in-national-parks-rule-change-wont-do U.S. national parks will open Monday to holders of concealed firearms [sic] as a hard-fought law passed last year takes effect, but both sides expect more battles over exactly what the legislation means in practice. The law - probably the biggest legislative achievement for conservatives in what was otherwise a year dominated by President Obama's agenda - says national parks will be governed by the same rules as the states in which they are located [emphasis added]. That means about 370 of the country's 392 National Park Service properties will permit visitors to carry firearms. But the Park Service says exceptions are in place and that another federal law requires guns to be kept out of federal facilities. That means firearms are still prohibited at any building where park employees regularly work, including office buildings, maintenance sheds and, most contentious of all, visitor centers. "I think you're going to have people on both sides of the issue test this in what is or is not a federal facility," said David Barna, a spokesman for the National Park Service. Gun rights advocates said they are pleased that weapons will no longer be off limits but that the Park Service should not poke exemptions into the law. "That's ludicrous. You're going to tell someone if they have a concealed weapon permit they can't go into the visitor center to use the restroom?" said Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah Republican. "If they come up with restrictive exemptions, what they're asking for is a lawsuit to try and stop implementation of what Congress clearly told them to do." The new rules, for example, prohibit concealed firearms on tours of the caves at Carlsbad Caverns, because it's a location where park employees regularly work... Mr. Barna, the Park Service spokesman, said his agency doesn't expect any problems from the new law... Mr. Barna said gun owners, particularly those who carry their firearms, tend to be knowledgeable about state and local laws. He said parks are updating their Web pages to explain what is or isn't allowed, and will post signs at the buildings that are still off limits to firearms. (The press continues to confuse the earlier attempt to change the NPS regulation with the Coburn Amendment. The former was limited to concealed handguns, the latter is not. As I understand it, Carlsbad Caverns would be off limits anyway because New Mexico prohibits firearms in state parks.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/22/national-parks-will-open-gates-to-holders-of-conce/ --- The NRA Election: I regard my NRA membership much as I regard my US citizenship - I have many beefs with the government and the NRA "leadership" but I am not about to renounce my citizenship nor resign from the NRA. Elections of NRA board members are usually a confusing matter for most members who are eligible to receive ballots, in part because no candidate is ever going to list his "warts." For example, former Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson is not about to tell you that he put his foot in it a few years back with a statement that private citizens have no business owning autoloading rifles with a magazine capacity greater than five rounds. Jeff Knox, of The Firearms Coalition, offers his views and recommendations. Even if you do not agree with all of his endorsements or you wish to vote for additional candidates, take note of his recommendation not to use all 25 of your votes if you have no specific reason to do so. The NRA needs a board with minds of its own, not a rubber-stamp to its paid bureaucrats. http://firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=502:nra-board-elections-2010&catid=19:the-knox-update&Itemid=144 --- Poll - Utahns Support Defensive Display: As gun rights bills flow through the Legislature, a new poll shows Utahns support gun owners displaying their weapons if they feel threatened. Sixty-five percent of respondents favor HB78, according to a Deseret News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, while 30 percent oppose the idea. The poll has a margin of error of 5 percent. The survey of 410 Utahns also revealed that more educated and wealthier respondents were less likely to support the proposal. Mirroring legislative debates, 70 percent of Republicans favored the bill while 56 percent of Democrats indicated support. HB78, which is waiting for Senate approval, would allow concealed weapon permit holders to "flash" their gun or tell someone that they are carrying a weapon... The current HB78 is a toned-down version of the original proposal, which caused controversy with its broad language. When introduced, the legislation would have allowed a gun owner to openly carry a gun and, in self-defense, draw the weapon and threaten "deadly force." Supporters said the bill simply clarified existing rights, but in the end, the most controversial language was removed. Gun rights advocates as well as state prosecutors have hailed the proposal as a much-needed clarification... http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700010737/Utah-Legislature-Flashing-of-guns-has-broad-support.html --- Big Brother, Nevada Style: The Nevada State Special Session of the Legislature meets this week on Tuesday. They are looking for ways to fill the budget deficit and don't think they have overlooked the cash that has been spent on guns and ammo in the last year. This message is urgent and we need your action immediately. The legislature is considering a means of "revenue enhancement" that would make privacy for CCW holders a huge problem. This is the exact same bill that was rejected by the legislature last year. InsureNet is lobbying for this bill so they can install 1,000's of camera or "scanners" on nearly all of Nevada's public roads. If it passes it would allow InsureNet, to photograph/scan every license plate on our roads. This data would be scanned and analyzed by InsureNet for the purpose of catching uninsured motorists. It's a nice premise but it comes with some serious problems. The problem is, in Nevada, every CCW holder has essentially given up his/her right to privacy. The minute you ask the government for "permission" to lawfully carry concealed, your license plate and vehicle registration is noted as a CCW holder. In other words, those who have jumped through the hoops of paying for the privilege to carry a lawful firearm--these lawful gun owners would be captured by an unaccountable, out of state corporate entities database! We constantly hear of databases being hacked. Do you understand the ramifications of this bill? Can you see the possibility for misuse? Gun owners did not create the spending problem at the state level. And gun owners should not have to fear privacy violations by an out-of-state corporation just because of being a CCW holder... (In case you didn't know, most, if not all, photo radar cameras are "on" full time, relaying license-plate numbers and location to a nationwide database.) http://gonv.org/Alerts2010SpecialSession.htm --- Oregon Group Appears to Be Trojan Horse: ...The new bill was rammed through committee with only one hour's notice. That appears to have been deliberate, meaning in order to discourage public input. And while Oregon Firearms Federation testified in opposition, and also delivered opposition testimony on behalf of NRA, one gun group that supported the measure carried the day: Oregon Gun Owners. Who? "Long time [OFF] members may recall that "Oregon Gun Owners" was the group that drafted legislation to outlaw private transfers of firearms at gun shows and in some cases your own home. When OFF defeated that bill in 1999, "Oregon Gun Owners" attempted to put a measure on the ballot to outlaw private firearms transfers at gun shows. That failed as well, but a competing measure sponsored by Ginny Burdick passed. "Oregon Gun Owners" once attempted to hijack OFF's domain names until threatened with legal action. We can only speculate as to why OGO has come out of the woodwork to promote another anti-gun bill. They played NO part in the bill they are seeking to overturn and had no position on the basic issue of whether Oregon gun laws should make any sense. What they HAVE done is give cover to the anti-gun politicians who can now say that a 'gun group' supports overturning the progress we made with your help last year." ...That certainly deserves further scrutiny. Three questions come to mind: Are the criticisms true? What is OGO's rationale for supporting SB 1064? Why would Oregon politicians defer to them when NRA and OFF oppose a bill? I'll be happy to give Oregon Gun Owners space in a future column to explain their position on the bill, and to address anything I've presented here they may consider unfair, out of context or misrepresenting. http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m2d20-Is-gun-group-giving-cover-for-Oregon-gun-control --- CHL Privacy Thwarted in Arkansas: One year ago, gun owners in Arkansas were in an uproar. On February 16 of 2009, Arkansas Times blogger Max Brantley viciously posted the list of Concealed Handgun License holders in Arkansas on his web page, causing a backlash which will last until CHL holders receive full privacy of the list. In the days which followed, a bill was filed by Representative Randy Stewart, a Democrat from Kirby, which would completely privatize the CHL list. This bill was put on the fast track; on March 6th it was passed by the House on a vote of 98-1, with only Lindsley Smith of Fayetteville voting no. This vote margin was a mirror of the outrage from Arkansans all over the state. The bill was then sent to the Senate for approval by the State Agencies & Governmental Affairs committee. It was expected to move swiftly through this committee to the Senate floor for obvious approval. However, forces were at work to stop the bill (as written) dead... It's obvious now the shenanigans of Senators Wilkinson and Hendren caused the CHL privacy bill to be amended and watered down. However, it wasn't so clear to gun owners Senator Gilbert Baker could have easily voted the original bill through to the Senate, where it was sure to pass. Senator Gilbert Baker is now running for the United States Senate seat held by Senator Blanche Lincoln. After watching the politics of Senator Mark Pryor this past year, I am not sure we need another politician playing games with our trust on gun votes. We definitely do not need another politician in Washington, D.C. forcing laws on us we do not want. http://www.examiner.com/x-33857-Fort-Smith-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m2d21-Arkansas-CHL-privacy-law-one-year-later?cid=exrss-Fort-Smith-Gun-Rights-Examiner --- Open-Carry Demonstration in Wisconsin: Clutching cups of coffee and chatting in loose groups, the people outside Starbucks on Sunday didn't look particularly unusual, save for the holstered guns strapped to nearly everyone's hip or thigh. The display of Smith & Wessons, Glocks and Kel-Tec pistols among lattes and coffeecake was part of an organized rally to spread awareness about Wisconsin's open carry law as well as the recent treatment of a Sussex gun carrier by local law enforcement. Participants later drove to the Wisconsin State Patrol District Headquarters in Waukesha and demonstrated on the front lawn. The turnout - about 40 people from various parts of Wisconsin and Illinois - may indicate growing support for the expansion of gun rights in the state, and in particular, legislation that could make it possible for people to carry concealed weapons. State law allows adults to openly carry guns, but not in businesses that ask them not to, places that serve alcohol, and not in school zones or public buildings. Last spring, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen re-affirmed in a brief the right of Wisconsin's residents to bear arms openly, saying that those who do so should not be subject to disorderly conduct tickets from local law enforcement... http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/84928722.html --- Washington Man Turns to Open Carry: Duncan Dohmen wants people to notice the pistol he carries. He isn't a police officer and tells people that when he's asked. He likes these chances to educate people about a right afforded them 219 years ago - a right he fears could be stripped. "Rights not exercised are rights lost," said the 68-year-old resident of Covington in King County. "... I was walking around for 18 years with a pistol secretly concealed and it alarmed nobody. Then I realized that (openly) carrying a pistol might cause questions." So for the past two years Dohmen has openly worn his Smith & Wesson 1911 model .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. He's an active member of the Open Carry movement and takes any chance he gets to talk about the right to bear arms under both the U.S. and Washington constitutions. Dohmen said he's found most people willing to listen - until last June, when a restroom break at a Prosser restaurant ended up in a criminal charge... (I have been certified to "advanced trainer" level in weapon retention and that shoulder holster is not one I'd want to be wearing if someone attempted to disarm me.) http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/02/21/910419/unconcealed-gun-causes-stir-in.html --- Demonstrators Compete Outside Philadelphia Gun Shop: Perhaps emboldened by its headway in protests against the old Colosimo's Gun Center, an interfaith group rallied yesterday against a new target - the Shooter Shop in Kensington. This time, though, the demonstrators ran into an opposing force: a contingent of pro-gun counterprotesters. It all added up to a lively demonstration of the First Amendment and a quarrel over the Second Amendment as the sides each mustered about 40 protesters outside the gun shop, on Allegheny Avenue. When the antigun advocates from Heeding God's Call went into silent prayer, the pro-gun folks sang "God Bless America." When the antigun folks sang a hymn, an opponent shouted, "Long live the Second Amendment." The Rev. Fred Kauffman, a Mennonite pastor and leader of Heeding God's Call, told his faithful that gun dealers such as the Shooter Shop could do much more to make sure they are "not feeding the illegal gun market." Kauffman and his band are urging gun shops to sign a 10-point pledge calling for shops to be more vigilant in spotting "straw purchasers" who buy guns in bulk for resale to criminals... (Firearm dealers are already required to report multiple handgun purchases and are scrutinized by F Troop in regard to straw purchases.) http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/84877172.html --- Spreading the Manure: The Arizona Senate has approved a provision that would make it illegal to sell a weapon at a gun show without verifying that the purchaser is an American citizen. Senators approved the measure in a 15-14 vote on Thursday. Their vote attaches the provision to another bill that would allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. The amendment was sponsored by Phoenix Democrat Ken Cheuvront (shev RONT). Cheuvront says the amendment is designed to cut down on the number of guns bought in the United States and sold in Mexico. Mesa Republican Sen. Russell Pearce says Cheuvront has a worthy goal. But Pearce opposed attaching the provision to his bill allowing people to carry concealed guns without permits. Senators still must give the bill formal approval. (That's pretty poor journalism, not checking to see if US citizenship is actually required to purchase a firearm lawfully. It is also legal for permanent resident aliens to purchase firearms and to obtain CWP's in Arizona, a fact that is reflected neither in the misguided amendment to the constitutional-carry bill nor the article.) http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/02/18/20100218gun-shows-bill-citizenship.html --- California Publication Touts Top Brady Rank: Once again, California holds the top spot with the nationīs strongest gun laws that help combat the illegal gun market, prevent the sale of guns without background checks and reduce risks to children, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. In the organizationīs 2009 state scorecards released today for all 50 states, California earned 79 points out of a total of 100. This past year, California further strengthened its laws by passing legislation to regulate the sale of handgun ammunition in the state. Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 962, sponsored by Assembly Member Kevin DeLeon (D-Los Angeles) last fall. It was the top priority of the California Brady Campaign Chapters and Women Against Gun Violence. "This important new law will help keep handgun ammunition out of the hands of dangerous people and give law enforcement an important new tool to track down armed criminals in possession of illegal guns and bullets," said Ellen Boneparth, spokesperson for the California Brady Campaign Chapters... http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/view/142526 ... The campaign graded the 50 states on their gun laws and found that four of five states scored less than 25 points out of 100 possible. West Virginia, for example, scored a 4. California scored the highest, a 79. But the correlation between what gun-control advocates want in law - and what public safety results from that law - is unclear at best. According to FBI statistics from 2008, West Virginia's homicide rate is 3.03 killings per 100,000 people. California's rate is 5.83 homicides per 100,000 people. While 60 percent of the killings in West Virginia are gun-related, 69 percent are gun-related in California. North Dakota has the nation's lowest homicide rate, with only 0.47 killings per 100,000 people. None of its three homicides in 2008 were gun related. North Dakota, like West Virginia, scored only a 4 on the Brady scorecard of "good" gun laws. Utah scored a zero on the Brady scorecard, but had only 1.5 homicides per 100,000 people - and only 46 percent were gun-related. Now, many states with low scores on gun control had higher homicide rates than California, and higher percentages of gun-related homicides. But with the exception of Hawaii, the seven states with fewer than two homicides per 100,000 people all scored 10 or less on the Brady scorecard... http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Editorials/201002210395 Since its inception as the National Council to Control Handguns over 30 years ago, the Brady Campaign has premised its entire agenda on the notion that having more gun control laws and, therefore, fewer guns, means that crime must necessarily decrease. History has not been kind to the group's delusion, however. In recent decades, the severity of gun control laws has been diminished at the federal, state and local levels, the number of guns has increased by over four million a year on average, and today, the nation's murder and total violent crime rates are at 45-year and 35-year lows, respectively... Brady came out with its 2010 "grades" this week, and once again we'll take them as seriously as they deserve. With the nation's murder rate having been cut in half since 1991, as Brady's agenda has been dismantled or rejected by Congress and one state legislature after another, and the numbers of guns, gun owners, Right-to-Carry states, and carry permit holders have risen to all-time highs with no end in sight... http://www.ammoland.com/2010/02/20/anti-freedom-brady-campaign-to-act-stupid/ --- Old Case, New Evidence: A possible new piece of evidence is raising questions in the murder case against Oklahoma City pharmacist Jerome Ersland. A security guard found a shell casing from a 22 caliber bullet at the Reliable Pharmacy almost three months after the incident, but some are debating how it got there. The shell casing could have come from anywhere, defense attorney Irven Box. It may have been in the pharmacy the entire time but was missed by police, Box said. The shell casing could be significant because it could prove that Jerome Ersland was shot at by one of the suspects, something he's alleged from the beginning. Ersland has said the suspects who entered the Reliable Pharmacy shot at him first and that's why he returned fire, ultimately killing 16-year-old Antwun Parker. District Attorney David Prater said surveillance video at the time of the shooting proves the suspects never had a chance to get a shot off. Prater said the new evidence is supicious and could have been planted. "Two and half months after the shooting, after Oklahoma City police swept the pharmacy, the fact that a shell casing was found in the back of the store is very suspicious to me," Prater said. But Ersland's attorney said it's too early to be pointing fingers... http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=12020722 --- Cavalry Arms Cops a Plea: A Gilbert [AZ] firearms manufacturer will cease its gun operations after the company's owner pleaded guilty to illegally selling rifles, shotguns and handguns. Cavalry Arms Corp. says on its Web site that it has been "engaged in an ongoing dispute" with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, for two years over "regulatory and compliance mistakes." But in federal court last week, owner Shawn Nealon admitted that he and his company illegally sold as many as 40 weapons to an out-of state buyer, and he voluntarily surrendered his federal firearms licenses, meaning Cavalry will no longer be able to import, manufacture or deal in weapons or ammunition... Nealon's lawyer, Mark Vincent of Chandler, called the charges against his client ridiculous. "This is by no means a great victory for the government," he said, describing federal gun regulations as arcane. "In my opinion, no gun dealer in the United States could comply with the myriad of regulations. . . . It's almost impossible to determine what the law is." Vincent said as much as 90 percent of the government's original case against Cavalry was dismissed, leaving his client pleading guilty to selling to an out-of-state buyer. "It's a minor problem. . . . If that had been the only (charge), I don't know that they would have bothered with it," he said, adding: "Nobody was hurt. Nobody was almost hurt." Nealon faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in April. But authorities say the bigger victory in this case is stripping Nealon of his firearms license... (Recall that I have recently shared articles about a couple of California residents who were charged for claiming Arizona residency in order to purchase firearms in Arizona that they are not allowed to purchase in California.) http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2010/02/22/20100222guns-gilbert.html --- Rule One, Two, Three Reminder: The message was a happy one. But Kevin Wilkins would never get it. The Atlantic City police officer and his fiancee, Nichole Gupton, had been trying for almost a year to buy a house. On Thursday, real estate agent Bobby Cress called around noon to let Wilkins know the dream home would be theirs. "Hey Kev, great news," she said. "You got your written commitment. Call me when you get up." But Wilkins, 31, would never call. The two-year veteran had died hours earlier after accidentally discharging his weapon while inside his patrol car near Stanley Holmes Village. He was trying to put a rubber sleeve on the grip of the .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun when a bullet - still in the chamber after he removed the magazine from the gun - struck him in the face. An autopsy Friday confirmed the death was accidental, Chief John Mooney said. The full report has not yet been released... (The Rules: http://www.spw-duf.info/safety.html. In this case, I suspect it may have been the thumb, not the trigger finger, that wandered into the trigger guard.) http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/top_three/article_6335b460-1d90-11df-8c7a-001cc4c03286.html With Friends Like These...: A gun safety class attendee in Orlando, Fla., was accidentally shot in the foot by his instructor, police reported. Robert Frauman Jr., 50, was one of three students at a concealed weapons certification class at Summit Church Saturday, when he was struck by the stray bullet, a church spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel, adding he was "doing well" and the bullet did not hit any bones. Instructor Michael Phillips could not be reached for comment, the Sentinel said, but another National Rifle Association instructor told the newspaper it is forbidden to take ammunition to classes. The event was not sponsored by the church, which offered one of its meeting rooms to the group after some of its members made a request, the spokeswoman said. "We won't be having anything like that in our church in the future," she added. http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=100478 --- Marines to Use SOCOM Round in Afghanistan: The Marine Corps is dropping its conventional 5.56mm ammunition in Afghanistan in favor of new deadlier, more accurate rifle rounds, and could field them at any time. The open-tipped rounds until now have been available only to Special Operations Command troops. The first 200,000 5.56mm Special Operations Science and Technology rounds are already downrange with Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, said Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command. Commonly known as "SOST" rounds, they were legally cleared for Marine use by the Pentagon in late January, according to Navy Department documents obtained by Marine Corps Times. SOCom developed the new rounds for use with the Special Operations Force Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, which needed a more accurate bullet because its short barrel, at 13.8 inches, is less than an inch shorter than the M4 carbine's. Using an open-tip match round design common with some sniper ammunition, SOST rounds are designed to be "barrier blind," meaning they stay on target better than existing M855 rounds after penetrating windshields, car doors and other objects. Compared to the M855, SOST rounds also stay on target longer in open air and have increased stopping power through "consistent, rapid fragmentation which shortens the time required to cause incapacitation of enemy combatants," according to Navy Department documents. At 62 grains, they weigh about the same as most NATO rounds, have a typical lead core with a solid copper shank and are considered a variation of Federal Cartridge Co.'s Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw round, which was developed for big-game hunting and is touted in a company news release for its ability to crush bone... http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/02/marine_SOST_ammo_021510w/ --- Tangentially Related: Americans who turn to terrorism and plot against the U.S. are now as big a concern as international terrorists, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday... In the last year, Napolitano said, she's witnessed a movement from international extremism to domestic extremism - cases in which Americans radicalized and decided to plot attacks against the country. "What really is it that draws a young person being raised in the United States to want to go and be at a camp in Yemen and then come back to the United States with the idea of committing harm within the United States?" Napolitano asked without citing specific cases. "Where in that person's formulation is there an opportunity to break that cycle?" ... John Brennan, President Barack Obama's homeland security adviser, echoed Napolitano's concerns about violent extremism Sunday... Brennan pointed to a case from late last year when five young Pakistani men living in Northern Virginia traveled to Pakistan seeking training from al-Qaida... (Are they feeling some heat? It's a relief not to see recent veterans, RKBA activists, Ron Paul supporters, anti-abortion activists, etc. lumped in with homegrown jihadists.) http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/61681 -- 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 .